
Book-- <7? fl 97 



ADDRESSES 



DELIVERED AT 



Groton, Massachusetts, 



July 12, 1905, 



BY REQUEST OF THE CITIZENS, 



OX THE CELEBRATION OE THE 



Two Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary 



OF 



ITS SETTLEMENT 




GROTON, 

1905. 



ADDRESSES 

DELIVERED AT 

Groton, Massachusetts, 

July 12, 1905, 

BY REQUEST OF THE CITIZENS, 

ON THE CELEBRATION OF THE 

Two Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary 

OF 

ITS SETTLEMENT. 



*6 ^ 




GROTON, 

1905. 



G*1 






To the Memory 

OF 

Gbc )£arl£ Settlers of 6roton, 

TO WHOM IN MANY WAYS THE PRESENT INHABITANTS 

OWE SO MUCH, THESE PAGES ARE 

INSCRIBED. 



Two Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary. 



The committee appointed at a Town Meeting held No- 
vember 8, 1904, to consider the matter of the town holding a 
celebration in the year 1905, to commemorate the Two Hun- 
dred and Fiftieth Anniversary of the incorporation of the 
town, respectfully submit the following report : 

1. The town hold a celebration on some one day during 
the last week of June 1905. 

2. We recommend that at this meeting the town raise and 
appropriate the sum of Five Hundred Dollars for the purpose 
of said celebration. 

3. We recommend that a .committee of arrangements, to 
consist of five persons, be appointed by the moderator of this 
meeting, subject to the approval of the town, which com- 
mittee shall have full power to make and carry out all nec- 
essary arrangements of said celebration, this authority to in- 
clude the right to approve bills for expenses of the same, up 
to the amount of the appropriation that the town may make, 
the payment of said bills to be by order of the Selectmen. 

4. We recommend substantially the following program : 

a An historical address in the morning in the First Parish 
Meeting House. 

b A dinner followed by speeches and music. 

c A barge ride in the afternoon to give an opportunity for 
persons who have not been in town recently to see the changes 
that have taken place. 



d A social gathering in the Town Hall in the evening with 
such entertainment as the committee of arrangements shall 
think best to provide. 

FRANCIS M. BOUTWELL, 
MOSES P. PALMER, 
THOMAS L. MOTLEY, 
CHARLES BIXBY, 
GEORGE M. HOWE. 
Groton, April 3, 1905. 



At a meeting of the committee, Dr. Samuel A. Green was 
invited to give the address. 

General William A. Bancroft was invited to be President 
of the day. Both accepted. 

It was decided to have the dinner in a tent which was pitch- 
ed on Shumway Field by the permission of the Trustees of 
the Lawrence Academy and the address in the Town Hall. 

COMMITTEE ON INVITATION. 

Col. Thomas L. Motley, Mrs. Daniel Needham, Mr. and 
Mrs. F. Lawrence Blood, Miss Marion Needham, Mr. and 
Mrs. William A. Lawrence. 

VICE PRESIDENTS. 

Zara Patch, John W. Parker, 

Milo H. Shattuck, John Gilson, 

Charles Woolley, Dr. John G. Park, 

James Lawrence, John Lawrence, 

Amory A. Lawrence, William A. Lawrence, 

Samuel P. Williams, Charles Lawrence, 

George H. Bixby, Herbert C. Rockwood, 

Joseph B. Raddin, Frank L. Blood, 

William F. Wharton, Charles E. Bigelow, 

John H. Manning, H. H. C. Bingham, 

John H. Robbins, Michael Sheedy, Jr. 



Prayer by Rev. Pemberton H. Cressey. 

Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, we thank Thee that 
this land, once covered with unbroken forests, is now marked 
by the fertile farms and the happy homes of men. We thank 
Thee for the wealth of our inheritance in light and air, and 
for all the helpful surroundings in this fair region. We 
thank Thee for the faith which led our fathers to cross the 
ocean, and for the patience and fortitude which enabled them 
to establish their freedom in spite of every hardship, and we 
pray that we of later day may face with equal prowess the 
difficulties of our day, and thus preserve undiminished that 
freedom of soul which is our highest inheritance. We pray 
for our Commonwealth, and for the mighty nation of which 
we form a part. Give to the servants of the people who are 
in high places of responsibility such wisdom and devotion as 
will enable them properly to administer the affairs of public 
welfare. More and more may honor and love abound in the 
lives of individuals, of families, and of nations, until all Thy 
children upon the earth shall emerge out of the darkness of 
superstition and sin into the light of righteousness and truth. 
Amen. 



ADDRESS OF WELCOME 

BY 

Mr. FRANCIS M. BOUTWELL. 



Ladies and Gentlemen: It is now my pleasure to extend 
to you all, on behalf of the Town of Groton, a cordial welcome 
to this birthday gathering. There are, no doubt, many pres- 
ent who have not been here for many years, who long ago 
lived in Groton, and others who attended school here in the 
days gone by. And it may be that there are some here who 
never visited the town before, but to whom its soil seems 
sacred because it was the home of their ancestors. 

We hope that you will feel that this is not only an anniver- 
sary occasion, but that it is a real old home day. We are all 
here together, all in the old home. 

It is now my pleasure to present, as president of the day, 
a gentleman who needs no introduction in his native town, — 

MAJOR GENERAL WILLIAM A. BANCROFT. 

Mr. Chairman, Friends and Neighbors : By the determi- 
nation of the citizens of the Town of Groton, in town meet- 
ing assembled, we are met to commemorate the anniversary 
of the settlement of this town by white men. We are met 
also in response to a natural desire to pay tribute to our an- 
cestors and predecessors, and to review the occupation of 
these fields by them and their descendants for two centuries 
and a half. They chose a spot of surpassing loveliness, in 



the midst of a region whose beauty has ever delighted the 
eye, and whose fertile soil compares well with any in New 
England. Theirs were the rugged virtues and theirs was a 
life of hardship and peril. A God-fearing race, they had as- 
sured themselves that their future life was secure, and may it 
not be that the rigor of their life here was softened by the 
charm of their environment? Wont as they were to solace 
themselves with the prospect of happiness in the world to 
come, perhaps they were not altogether unconscious of the 
prospect of earthly splendor which unfolded itself from these 
rounded summits with its glory of sky and valley, of moun- 
tain and river, of forest and lakelet, — our possession today, 
as it was theirs of long ago. And what a race of men suc- 
ceeded Deane Winthrop and his companions! With hand 
and brain together they wrought — industrious and saga- 
cious — in their persons, the laborer and the capitalist united, 
the ideal state of man. Through their exertion the earth 
yielded its increase and the landscape grew fairer. Of what 
a number of superior individuals, too, has this town been the 
birthplace or the abiding-place! Among them have been 
two United States Senators; two Cabinet Officers;- three 
Governors of states; one Envoy Extraordinary and Minister 
Plenipotentiary to England; eleven Congressmen; two At- 
torney Generals of States; three Justices of Supreme Courts 
of States or of a United Slates Court; three Justices of the 
Superior Courts of States; two Speakers of the Massachusetts 
House; besides many holding other public offices of dignity, 
and many eminent in the professions and in affairs, both in 
war and in peace. I may not speak the names of all, but 
three I should like to speak, not meaning to discrimi- 
nate, — indeed, without mention of these names in their re- 
spective centuries, the history of our Country cannot be 
written: — Major Simon Willard in the Seventeenth Centufy; 
Colonel William Prescott in the Eighteenth, and Governor 
Boutwell in the Nineteenth. If the spirits of the illustrious 
dead hover about the abodes of their mortal bodies and share 
the interests of the living, what a company is gathered here! 
What feelings of pride rightfully invade our breasts when 



IO 

reflection reveals the associations that are ours! Small must 
be the soul and narrow the brain in which the story of our 
town cannot arouse the ennobling emotions which generous 
natures always feel in the contemplation of worthy manhood 
and womanhood. But besides the feeling of pride which is 
justly ours, we are entitled also to show that other emotion 
which in all ages has been regarded as creditable to man- 
kind. We cannot, and we need not, restrain our demonstra- 
tions of affection for the town of our birth or of our choice. 
What delightful sensations recur again and again as the hal- 
lowed memories come back? What friendships! What 
glowing scenes! What happy hours! But I must not pursue 
these pleasurable reflections further. 

There is one among us, born in the town, of its best line- 
age, and of which he has never ceased to be an inhabtant, 
whose services to the town surpass those of all others, no 
matter how great. Not only is the present generation his 
debtor, but succeeding generations for all time must be also. 
It would seem that everything in existence, every conceiv- 
able record, every printed or written document, every scrap 
of information concerning the town, from 1655 until today, 
his indefatigable industry has procured and preserved in the 
most imperishable form known to man. I do not know how 
many volumes relating to Groton he has published, but 
probably no community of its size, situation and age, since 
the world was made, ever had such priceless treasure, in 
such abundance, bestowed upon it. I make no mention of his 
other services and his other titles to distinction, numerous 
and important though they be. Today we recognize his 
highest claim to our respect and gratitude, and I present to 
you to speak our feelings from the fullness of his knowledge, 
the devoted lover of the town, the tireless recorder of its his- 
tory, our orator, the 

HONORABLE SAMUEL ABBOTT GREEN. 

After this complimentary and flattering introduction by 
your president, I scarcely know who I am, or how to begin, 
or what to say. I thank him, and I thank you for your 
warm reception of me. 



II 

I will say, in passing, that last year, in summer, I went to 
Groton, England, and got eight elm trees, trees perhaps five 
or six feet in height, and some acorns and some beech nuts. 
The trees were set out this spring, and probably not more 
than three of the elm trees will live, but of the acorns there 
are ten or twelve that have come up, and of the beech nuts 
three or four at least. At some future day, when they are 
large enough, I shall have them placed in some public 
grounds belonging to the town. 

There are six other towns besides this town in the United 
States that bear the name of Groton. Of these six towns, I 
have visited five, and there is only one that I have not seen, 
and that is in the State of South Dakota. At some future 
day I will visit that place also, and if I chance to be present 
fifty years hence, I will certainly give an account of that 
township as well. 



HISTORICAL ADDRESS 

BY 

SAMUEL ABBOTT GREEN 



On this interesting occasion we all miss the presence of one 
whose form and figure were familiar to every man, woman, 
and child in town ; and only a few months ago we were all 
looking forward to the time when he would take a prominent 
part in these exercises of to-day. Some of us remember the 
Bi-centennial Celebration which took place a half-century 
ago, and a few of us now in this assembly were present at 
that gathering. We recall the grace and dignity with which 
he, as President of the day, performed the duties of his office, 
both in the meeting-house where the historical address was 
given, and in the tent where the after-dinner speeches were 
made. Whenever or wherever his services were needed, 
whether in the councils of the State or of the nation, they 
were always cheerfully rendered ; and in this quiet village his 
aid and advice, often sought by his townsfolk, were always 
freely given. In many walks of life, both lofty and lowly, 
his absence will be keenly felt ; but here among his old-time 
neighbors more than elsewhere, the loss is a personal one, 
and comes home to us all. We miss him now at this time 
more than words can tell. When death strikes such a man, 
who has led a blameless life, and whose bodily frame has be- 
come enfeebled by the infirmities of age, his removal is not 
a cause for sorrow ; but rather it is an occasion for devout 
gratitude to Heaven and for heartfelt thanksgivings that he 
was spared to us during so many years. The noble example 
of such a one is as lasting as the countless ages of time, and 
is never lost, for the continuity of life keeps up the thread of 
connection. He died at an advanced age in the fulness of 



13 

all his mental and intellectual powers, which seemed to 
strengthen as the years rolled by. Truly he was the Grand 
Old Man of the Commonwealth ! As long as the town of 
Groton shall have a municipal existence, the memory and 
traditions connected with the name of Boutwell will be count- 
ed among her richest treasures. 

The story of this town* has been told so many times, both 
in printed book and public address, that now I shall not re- 
peat the tale. I might give a narrative of the trials and 
hardships, suffered equally by brave men and resolute women, 
during the first century of the settlement ; I might tell hew 
the town was attacked by the Indians and burnt, and how the 
inhabitants were driven away from their homes and compel- 
led for a while to abandon the place ; how on various oc- 
casions men were killed by the savages, families broken up, 
and children carried off into captivity ; and how oftentimes 
from the failure of crops they were pinched by want ; and 
how they endured other privations,— but a relation of these 
facts at this time would be as tedious as a twice-told tale. 
Instead of describing the sad and dreadful experiences of the 
early settlers, and the destruction of their homes by fire and 
hideous ruin, I shall confine myself to other topics, and speak 
of some of the conditions of their day, bringing the account 
down to a later period, and touching on a few of the more 
important events in our local history. 

In early Colonial days a town did not become a municipal 
corporation by formal vote of the General Court, with power 
to act as one person, but a grant of land, sometimes contain- 
ing many thousand acres, was made to a body of men under 
certain conditions, which was practically a quasi form of in- 
corporation. The most important of these conditions was the 
speedy settlement of a Godly minister, and often another 
condition was that those persons who received land should 
build houses thereon within a stated period of time. Some- 
times a board of selectmen was named by the Legislature, 
who should look after the prudential affairs of the town until 
their successors were chosen. In those days this course was 
substantially the only formality needed in order to give local 



14 

self-government to a new community. The term "prudential 
affairs" was a convenient expression, intended to cover any- 
thing required by a town which prudence would dictate. 

In the early records of the Colony the proceedings of the 
General Court, as a rule, were not dated day by day, — 
though there are many exceptions, — but the beginning of the 
sessions is always given, and occasionally the days of the 
month was entered. These dates in the printed edition of 
the Records are frequently carried along without authority, 
sometimes covering a period of several days, or even a week 
or more ; and for this reason often it is impossible to tell the 
exact date of any particular legislation when there are no 
contemporaneous documents on file which bear on the subject. 
In some instances papers are found among the State Archives 
or elsewhere, which fix the date of such legislation that is 
wanting in the official records. 

For these reasons it is impossible to tell to a dot or a day, 
with entire certainty, when the town of Groton began its 
municipal life or official existence, — or, in other words, when 
it was "incorporated," as the modern expression is. With- 
out any doubt the date was near the end of May, 1655, Old 
Style. It must have been after May 23, as on that day the 
General Court began its session ; and it was before May 29, 
when the next entry in the records appears. Fortunately 
there is still preserved among the manuscripts of the New 
England Historic Genealogical Society a contemporary rec- 
ord of the action of the General Court in regard to the matter. 
This interesting old paper, officially attested by Edward 
Rawson, Secretary of the Colony, and by William Torrey, 
Clerk of the Deputies, was given to that Society by the late 
Charles Woolley, for many years an honored resident of 
Groton. This document was signed on May 25, the day when 
the Assistants, or Magistrates as they are often called, grant- 
ed the petition, and apparently at the same time the House 
of Deputies took concurrent action. At that period the As- 
sistants formed the body of law-makers which is known to-day 
as the State Senate ; and at that time the House of Deputies 
corresponded to the present House of Representatives. 



i5 

It may be proper to add that the Groton Historical Society 
owns a contemporaneous copy of the record made near the 
time of the Grant by Edward Rawson, Secretary of the Colony, 
which is dated May 23, 1655. It was found among the papers 
of the late John Boynton, a former town-clerk of Groton, and 
may have been sent, soon after the settlement of the town, to 
the selectmen for their information and guidance. Perhaps 
the Secretary took the first day of the General Court, as in 
England before April 8, 1793, all laws passed at a session of 
Parliament went into effect from the first day, unless there 
was some enactment to the contrary. 

But whatever the date, be it a few days more or less, the 
substance is always of greater importance than the shadow ; 
so it is of less moment to learn of the exact time of the order 
than it is to know that the town has now reached the ripe old 
age of two centuries and a half, and that she wears the dig- 
nity of her increasing years like a crown of glory. 

Besides Groton the only two other towns established in the 
year 1655 by the Colony of Massachusetts Bay were Billerica 
and Chelmsford ; and singularly enough all three were con- 
tiguous townships, all lying in the same county, and all three 
"incorporated" within a very few days of each other. It 
should be borne in mind that originally the town of Westford 
was a part of the territory of Chelmsford. Why these three 
adjoining towns were thus created at this particular time may 
not have been a mere coincidence. It may have been the 
result of a certain condition of political ins and outs at that 
early period of Colonial history which now cannot be ex- 
plained. 

The Charter, duly given by Charles I., was abrogated by 
the English courts in the summer of 1684. The action wa 
considered by the Colonists as little short of a gross outrage, 
and caused much confusion in public affairs as well as hard 
feeling among the people. Says Palfrey, in his "History of 
New England" (IV. 5), "The charter of Massachusetts, the 
only unquestionable title of her citizens to any rights, propri- 
etary, social, or political, had been vacated by regular process 
in the English courts." It was vacated by a decree in Chan- 



i6 

eery, on June 21, 1684, which was confirmed on October 23 of 
the same year. On May 25, 1686, Joseph Dudley, a native of 
Roxbury, under a commission from King James II. became 
President of New England, with jurisdiction over the whole 
region. This office he held for seven months, until December 
30, when Edmund Andros became Governor of New England, 
appointed by James II. He proved to be a highly arbitrary 
officer, and was deposed by a revolution of the people, on 
April 18, 1689. Andros was followed by Simon Bradstreet, 
who was Governor from May 24, 1689, 10 May 14, 1692. He 
was the grandfather of Dudley Bradstreet, an early minister 
of this town, which gives an additional interest to his name 
at this time. During this period another Charter, signed by 
William and Mary, on October 7, 1691, and now known as 
the Second Charter, became operative. Under this instru- 
ment the Colony was made a Province, which is a lower grade 
of political existence, as it has fewer privileges and more re- 
strictions as to the rights of the people. From June, 1684, 
when the first Charter was vacated, till May, 1692, when the 
Second Charter went into operation, the time is generally 
spoken of as the Inter-Charter period, and is an exceptional 
one in the history of Massachusetts and New England. 

The first settlers of the town came here less than one gen- 
eration after the Colonial Charter of Massachusetts-Bay was 
granted by Charles I. They represented a rugged race, will- 
ing to undergo hardships in daily life, and expecting to meet 
danger from many sources. Under adverse conditions they 
pushed into the wilderness and made their homes in a region 
little known to the white man. They were a brave band, and 
took their trials and troubles with a readiness worthy of all 
praise. The new township lay on the frontiers, and all be- 
yond was a desolate wild. It stood on the outer edge of 
cvilization, and for a time served as a barrier against Indian 
attacks on the inlying settlements. The Jot of a frontiers- 
man, even under favorable conditions, is never a happy one, 
but at that period, particularly when cut off from neighbors 
and deprived of all social and commercial intercourse with 
other towns, and in an age when newspapers and postal privi- 



1 7 

leges were unknown, his lot was indeed hard. In aiter-yeaTS 
this experience told on the settlers to their credit and benefit, 
.and made the bold character that cropped out in later gen- 
erations when there was need of such stuff. The laws of 
heredity are not well enough known for us to trace closely 
<cause and effect.; but the lives led by the early pioneers of the 
Colony had their fruitage in the wars of the next century. 
These laws work in a subtle and mysterious way and cannct 
be defined, but the hardships of one generation toughen the 
fiber of the next. Given a strong body and a high standard 
of morality, and the offspring will show the inherited traits. 
.Every farmer in this town knows that a strain of blood and 
breed will tell on his domestic stock. As flowers, by a pro^ 
cess not revealed to us, select the tint of delicate colors from 
the swampy bogs of nature, so the toils of life weave the warp 
.and the woof which make up noble character. "The web of 
our life is of a mingled yarn, good and ill together. 

It was once wittily said by a writer, — so distinguished in his 
day that I hardly know whether to speak of him as a poet or 
a physician, but whom all will recognize as the Autocrat of 
the Breakfast Table,— that a man's education begins a hun- 
dred years before he is born. I am almost tempted to add that 
even then he is putting on only the finishing touches of his 
training. A man is a composite being, both in body and soul, 
with a long line of ancestry whose beginnings it is impossible 
to trace; and every succeeding generation only helps to foster 
and weld together the various and innumerable qualities 
which make up his own personality, though they be modified 
by countless circumstances that form his later education, and 
for which he alone is responsible. 

The first comers to Massachusetts brought from their Eng- 
lish homes a love of personal freedom and liberty. For gen- 
erations this feeling had not been encouraged there by the 
royal authorities; and its growth, hampered by many obsta- 
cles, had been slow. These settlers were a hard-working set 
and a God-fearing people, and of the right stock to found a 
nation. Here the new conditions enabled them to give free 
scope to their actions, and the natural drift of events was all 



i8 

toward individual independence in its widest sense. There 
was no law against conventicles or non-conformists, and for 
that period of time there was great liberality of sentiment on 
the part of the Colonists. For centuries the microbic atoms 
of independence had been kept alive in England, and from 
one generation to another they handed down the germs which 
developed in the new world, and bore fruit in the American 
Revolution. From the time of King John, who, on June 15, 
1215, signed the Great Charter of the Liberties of England, 
the recognition of human rights was advancing in the mother 
country slowly but steadily; and the new settlers, infected 
with similar ideas, brought with them the spirit of these 
political principles. The development of broad views was 
gradual, but on every advance the wheels were blocked behind, 
and the gain was held. Each separate step thus taken led 
finally to the Declaration of Independence, which was the 
culmination of political freedom. Based on this instrument, 
and following closely both in spirit and in point of time, was 
the written Constitution of the United States, which has served 
as a model for so many different governments. 

Less than one generation passed between the time when 
the Charter of Charles I. was given to the Colony of Massa- 
chusetts Bay and the date when the grant of Groton Planta- 
tion was made by the General Court. The Charter was given 
on March 4, 1628-9, an d the grant of the town was made in 
May, 1655, — the interval being a little more than twenty-six 
years. At that period scarcel}' anything was known about 
the geography of the region, and the Charter gave to the 
Governor and other representatives of the Massachusetts 
Company, on certain conditions, all the territory lying between 
an easterly and westerly line running three miles north of any 
part of the Merrimack River and extending from the Atlantic 
Ocean to the Pacific, and a similar parallel line running three 
miles south of any part of the Charles River. Without at- 
tempting to trace in detail, from the time of the Cabots to the 
days of the Charter, the continuity of the English title to this 
transcontinental strip of territor)-, it is enough to know that 
the precedents and usages of that period gave to Great 



i9 

Britain, in theory at least, undisputed sway over the region, 
and forged every link in the chain of authority and sover- 
eignty. 

At the time of the Charter it was incorrectly supposed that 
America was a narrow strip of land, — perhaps an arm of the 
continent of Asia, — and that the distance across from ocean 
to ocean was comparatively short. It was then known that 
the Isthmus of Darien was narrow, and it was therefore 
thought that the whole continent also was narrow. New 
England was a region about which little was known beyond 
slight examinations made from the coast line. The rivers 
were unexplored, and all knowledge concerning them was 
confined to the neighborhood of the places where they 
emptied into the sea. The early navigators thought that the 
general course of the Merrimack was easterly and westerly, 
as it runs in that direction near the mouth; and their error 
was perpetuated inferentially by the words of the Charter. 
By later explorations this strip of territory has since been 
lengthened out into a belt three thousand miles long, and 
stretches across the whole width of the continent. The cities 
of Albany, Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, Detroit, and Mil- 
waukee all lie within this zone, on territory that once belonged 
to the Massachusetts Company, according to the Charter 
granted by King Charles. 

The general course of the Merrimack, as well as its source, 
soon became known to the early settlers on the coast. The 
northern boundary of the original grant to the Colony of 
Massachusetts Bay was established under a misapprehension; 
and this ignorance of the topography of the country on the 
part of the English authorities afterward gave rise to consid- 
erable controversy between the adjoining Provinces of Massa- 
chusetts and New Hampshire. So long as the territory in 
question remained unsettled, the dispute was a matter of lit- 
tle practical importance; but after a while it assumed grave 
proportions and led to much confusion. Grants made by one 
Province clashed with those made by the other; and there 
was no ready tribunal to decide the claims of the two parties. 
Towns were chartered by Massachusetts in territory claimed 



2G 

by' New Hampshire; and this action was the cause of bitter 
feeling and provoking legislation. Massachusetts contended 
for the tract of land " nominated in the bond," which would 
carry the jurisdictional line fifty miles northward, into the 
very heart of New Hampshire; and on the other hand, that 
Province strenuously opposed this view of the case, and 
claimed that the line should run, east and west, three miles, 
worth of the mouth of the Merrimack River. In order to set- 
tle these conflicting claims, a Royal Commission was ap- 
pointed to consider the subject and establish the contested 
line. The Commissioners were selected from the councillors- 
of the Provinces of New York, New Jersey, Nova Scotia, and 
Rhode Island, — men supposed to be free from any local 
prejudices in the matter, and impartial in their feelings; and 
without doubt they were such. The board, as appointed un- 
der the Great Seal, consisted of nineteen members, although 
only seven served in their capacity as Commissioners. They 
met at New Hampton, New Hampshire, on August i, 1737;. 
and for mutual convenience the Legislative Assemblies of 
the two Provinces met in the same neighborhood, — the Assem- 
bly of New Hampshire at Hampton Falls, and that of Massa- 
chusetts at Salisbury, places only five miles apart. This 
was done in order that the claims of each side might be con- 
sidered with greater dispatch than they otherwise would re- 
ceive. The General Court of Massachusetts met at Salisbury, 
in the First Parish Meeting-house, on August 10, 1737, and 
continued to hold its sessions in that town until October 29, 
inclusive, though with several adjournments, of which one 
was for thirty-five days. The printed journal of the House 
of Representatives, during this period, gives the proceedings 
of that body, which contain much with regard to the contro- 
versy besides the ordinary business of legislation. Main- 
years previously the two Provinces had been united so far as 
to have the same governor, — at this time Jonathan Belcher, 
—but each Province had its own legislative body and code of 
laws. 

The Commissioners heard both sides of the question, and 
agreed upon an award in alternative, leaving to the king the 



21 

interpretation of the characters given respectively by Charles 
I. and William and Mary. Under one interpretation the de- 
cision was in favor of a Massachusetts, and under the other in 
favor of New Hampshire; and at the same time each party 
was allowed six weeks to file objections. Neither side, how- 
ever, was satisfied with the indirect decision; and the whole 
matter was then taken to the king in council. Massachusetts 
claimed that the Merrimack River began at the confluence 
of the Winnepesaukee and the Pemigewasset Rivers, 
and that the northern boundary of the Province should run, 
east and west, three miles north of this point. On the other 
hand, New Hampshire claimed that the intention of the 
Charter was to establish a northern boundary on a line, run- 
ning east and west, three miles north of the mouth of the 
Merrimack River. In this controversy Massachusetts seems 
to have based her claim on the letter of the contract, while 
New Hampshire based hers on the spirit of the contract. 

The strongest argument in favor of Massachusetts is the 
fact that she had always considered the disputed territory as 
belonging to her jurisdiction; and before this period she had 
chartered twenty-four towns lying within the limits of this 
tract. These several settlements all looked to her for pro- 
tection, and naturally sympathized with her during the con- 
troversy. As just stated, neither party was satisfied with the 
verdict of the Royal Commissioners, and both sides appealed 
from their judgment. The matter was then taken to England 
for a decision, which was given by the king, on March 4, 
1739-40. His judgment was final, and in favor of New 
Hampshire. It gave to that Province not only all the terri- 
tory in dispute, but a strip of land fourteen miles in width 
lying along her southern border, — mostly west of the Mer- 
rimack, — which she had never claimed. This strip was the 
tract of land between the line running east and west three 
miles north of the southernmost trend of the river, and a simi- 
lar line three miles north of its mouth. By this decision 
many townships were taken from Massachusetts and given to 
New Hampshire. The settlement of this disputed question 
was undoubtedly a great public benefit, but at the time it 



22 

eatfSed a good deal of hard feeling. The new line was estab- 
lished by surveyors officially in the spring of 174 1. . 

In regard to the divisional line between the two Provinces, 
lying east of the Merrimack, there was much less uncertainty 
as, in a general way, it followed the bend of the river, and for 
that reason there was much less controversy over the juris- 
diction. Many of you, doubtless, have noticed on the map the 
tier of towns which fringe the north bank of the Merrimack, 
between the city of Lowell and the mouth of the river; and,, 
perhaps, you have wondered why those places, which from a 
geographical point of view belong to the State of New Hamp- 
shire, should come now within the limits of Massachusetts. 
The explanation of this seeming incongruity goes back to the 
date of the first Charter, now more than two hundred and 
seventy-five years ago. 

I have given an account of this dispute in some detail as. 
the town of Groton was a party to the controversy and took a 
deep interest in the result. It was by this decision of the king 
that the town lost all that portion of its territory which lies 
now within the limits of the city of Nashua; but it did not suf- 
fer nearly so much as our neighbor, the town of Dunstable, 
suffered by the same decision. At that time she received a 
staggering blow, and her loss, indeed, w T as a grievous one. 
Originally she was a large township containing 128,000 acres 
of land, situated on both sides of the Merrimack; and she was 
so cut in two by the running of the new line that by far the 
larger part of her territory came within the jurisdiction of 
New Hampshire. Even the meeting-house and the burying- 
ground, both so closely and dearly connected with the early 
life of our people, were separated from that portion of the 
town still remaining in Massachusetts; and this fact added 
not a little to the animosity felt by the inhabitants when the 
disputed question was settled. It is no exaggeration to say 
that throughout the old township and along the line of the 
borders from the Merrimack to the Connecticut, the feelings 
and sympathies were wholly with Massachusetts. 

Thus cut in twain, there were two adjoining towns bearing 
the same name, the one in Massachusetts, and the other in 



23 

New Hampshire; and thus they remained for nearly a cen- 
tury. This similarity of designation was the source of con- 
siderable confusion which lasted until the New Hampshire 
•town, on January i, 1837, took the name of Nashua, after the 
river from which its prosperity is largely derived. 

By the same decision of the king one other adjoining neigh- 
bor, Townsend, — for at that time Pepperell had not as yet 
taken on a separate municipal existence, — was deprived of 
more than one quarter of her territory; and the present towns 
of Brookline, Mason, and New Ipswich in New Hampshire 
now are reaping the benefit of what she then lost. 

Enough of the original Groton Plantation, however, was left 
to furnish other towns and parts of towns with ample material 
for their territory. On November 26, 1742, the west parish 
of Groton was set off as a precinct. It comprised all that part 
of the town lying on the west side of the Nashua River, north 
of the old road leading from Groton to Townsend, and now 
known as Pepperell. Its incorporation as a parish or precinct 
allowed the inhabitants to manage their own ecclesiastical 
affairs, while in all other matters the)' continued to act with 
the parent town. Its partial separation gave them the benefit 
of a settled minister in their neighborhood, which in those 
days was considered of great importance. 

It is an interesting fact to note that in early times the main 
reason given in the petitions for dividing towns was the long 
distance to the meeting-house, by which the inhabitants were 
prevented from hearing the stated preaching of the gospel. 
At the present day I do not think that this argument is ever 
urged by those who favor the division of a township. 

On April 12, 1753, when the Act was signed by the Gov- 
ernor, the west parish of Groton was made a district, -— the 
second step towards its final and complete separation from 
the mother town. At this period the Crown authorities were 
jealous of the growth of the popular party in the House of 
Representatives, and for that reason they frowned on every 
attempt to increase the number of its members. This fact 
had some connection with the tendency, which began to crop 
out during Governor Shirley's administration, to form dis- 



24 

tricts instead of towns, thereby withholding their representa- 
tion. At this date the west parish, under its changed politi- 
cal conditions, took the name of Pepperrell, and was vested 
with still broaderpowers. It was so called after Sir William 
Pepperrell, who had successfully commanded the New Eng- 
land troops against Louisburg; and the name was suggested, 
doubtless, by the Rev. Joseph Emerson, the first settled min- 
ister of the parish. He had accompanied that famous expe- 
dition in the capacity of chaplain, only the year before he had 
received a call for his settlement, and the associations with 
his commander were fresh in his memory. The hero of the 
capture of Louisburg always wrote his surname with a double 
"r"; and for many years the district followed that custom. 
and like him, spelled the name with two "r's," but gradually 
the town dropped one of these letters. It was near the begin- 
ning of the nineteenth century that the present orthographic 
form of the word became general. 

In the session of the General Court which met at Water- 
town, on July 19, 1775, Pepperell was represented by a mem- 
ber, and at that time practically acquired the rights and privi- 
leges of a town without any special act of incorporation. 
Other similar districts were likewise represented, in accord- 
ance with the precept calling that body together, and thus 
they obtained municipal rights without the usual formality. 
The precedent seems to have been set by the First Provincial 
Congress of Massachusetts, which met in the autumn of 1774, 
and was made up of delegates from the districts as well as 
from the towns. It was a revolutionary step taken outside of 
the law; and the informality led to a general Act, passed 
on August 23, 1775, which legalized the change. 

Shirley, unlike Pepperell, was never incorporated as a pre- 
cinct, but was set off as a district on January 5, 1753, three 
months before Pepperell was set off as one. In the Act of In- 
corporation the name was left blank, — as it was previously in 
the case of Harvard, and soon afterward in that of Pepperell, — 
and ' ' Shirley ' ' was filled in at the time of its engrossment. It 
was so named after William Shirley, the Governor of the Prov- 
ince at that period. It never was incorporated specifically as 



25 

a town, but became one by a general Act of the Legislature, 
passed on August J3, 1775. While a district it was represented 
in the session of the General Court which met at Watertown, 
on July 19, 1775, as well as represented in the First Provincial 
Congress of Massachusetts, and thus tacitly acquired the 
dignity of a town, which was afterwards confirmed by the 
Act, just mentioned. 

These two townships, Pepperell and Shirley, were the first 
settlements to swarm from the original Plantation. With the 
benediction of the mother they left the parent hive, and on all 
occasions have proved to be dutiful daughters in whom the 
old town has always taken a deep pride. In former years, 
before the days of railroads, these two towns were closely 
identified with Groton, and the social intercourse between 
them was very intimate. If the families of the three towns 
were not akin to one another, in a certain sense they were 
neighbors. 

The latest legislation connected with the dismemberment 
of the original grant, — and perhaps the last for many years 
to come, — is the Act of February, 14, 1871, by which the 
town of Ayer was incorporated. This enactment took from 
Groton a large section of territory lying near its southern 
borders, and from Shirley all that part of the town on the 
easterly side of the Nashua River which was annexed to it 
from Groton, on February 6, 1798. 

Thus has the old Groton Plantation, during a period of two 
hundred and fifty years, been hewn and hacked down to less 
than one half of its original dimensions. Formerly it con- 
tained 40,960 acres, while now the amount of taxable land 
within the town is 19,850 acres. It has furnished, substan- 
tially, the entire territory of Pepperell, Shirley, and Ayer, 
more than one half of Dunstable, and has contributed more 
or less to form five other towns, — namely, Harvard, Little- 
ton, and Westford, in Massachusetts, besides Nashua and 
Hollis, in New Hampshire. 

The early settlers of Groton, like all other persons of that 
period of time or of any period, had their limitations. They 
were lovers of political freedom, and they gave the largest 



26 

liberty to all, — so far as it related to their physical condition; 
but in matters of religious belief it was quite otherwise. With 
them it was an accepted tradition, — perhaps with us not 
entirely outgrown, — that persons who held a different faith 
from themselves were likely to have a lower standard of mo- 
rality. They saw things by a dim light, they saw " through 
a glass darkly. ' ' They beheld theological objects by the help 
of dipped candles, and they interpreted religion and its rela- 
tions to life accordingly. We living two hundred and fifty 
years later can bring to bear the electric light of science and 
modern discovery. We have a great advantage over what 
they had, and let us use it fairly. Let us be just to them, as 
we hope for justice from those who will follow us. Let us re- 
member that the standards of daily life change from one cen- 
tury to another. Perhaps in future generations, when we are 
judged, the verdict of posterity will be against us rather than 
against the early comers. More has been given to us than 
was given to them, and we shall be held responsible in a cor- 
respondingly larger measure. It is not the number of talents 
with which we have been entrusted that will tell in our favor, 
but the sacred use we make of them. In deciding this ques- 
tion, two centuries and a half hence, I am by no means sure 
of the judgment that history will render. Do we as a nation 
give all men a square deal? The author of the Golden Rule 
was color blind, and in its application he made no difference 
between the various races of mankind. The rule applied to the 
black man equally with the white man. Do we now give our 
African brother a fair chance? It is enough for us to try to do 
right, and let the consequences be what they will. "Hew up 
to the chalk line, and let the chips fly where they may," 
once said Wendall Phillips. We hear much nowadays about 
the simple life, but that was the life lived by the settlers, and 
taught to their children, both by precept and example. 
Austere in their belief, they practised those homely virtues 
which lie at the base of all civilization; and we of today owe 
much to their memory. The}' prayed for the wisdom that 
cometh from above, and for the righteousness that exalteth a 
nation; and they tried to square their conduct by their creed. 



27 

The early settlers were a plain folk, and they knew little 
of the pride and pomposity of later times. To sum up briefly 
their social qualities, I should say that they were neighborly 
to a superlative degree, which means much in country life. 
They looked after the welfare of their neighbors who were 
not so well off in this w r orld's goods as they themselves, they 
watched with them when they were sick, and sympathized 
with them when death came into their families. In cold 
weather they hauled wood for the widows, and cut it up and 
split it for them; and when a beef " crittur " or a hog was 
killed, no one went hungry. When a man met with an ac- 
cident and had a leg broken, the neighbors saw that his crops 
were gathered, and that all needful work was done; and after 
a heavy snow-storm in winter, the3^ turned to and broke out 
the roads and private ways with sleds drawn by many yoke 
of oxen belonging in the district. Happily all this order of 
things is not yet a lost art, but in former times the custom 
was more thoroughly observed, and spread over a much 
wider region than now prevails. When help was needed in 
private households, they never asked, like the lawyer of old, 
"And who is my neighbor?" They always stretched out 
their hands to the poor, and they reached forth their hands 
to the needy. 

To us it seems almost pathetic, certainly amusing, to see 
how closely they connected their daily life with the affairs of 
the church. As a specimen I will give an instance found in 
the note-book of the Reverend John Fiske, of Chelmsford. 
It seems that John Parker, James Fiske, and John Nutting 
wished to remove from Chelmsford and take up their abode 
in this town. The subject of their removal was brought be- 
fore the church there in the autumn of 1661, when they de- 
sired the "loving leave" of their brethren so to do, as well 
as prayers that the blessings of God might accompany them 
to their new homes. The meeting was held on November 9, 
1661, when some discussion took place and considerable feel- 
ing was shown. Mr. Fiske, the pastor, shrewdly declined 
to commit himself in the matter; or, according to the record, 
declined to speak on the question "one way or the other, but 



28 

desired that the brethren might manifest themselves." At 
the conference one brother said that there was no necessity 
or the removal, and hoped that the three members would 
give up their intentions to remove, and would remain in 
Chelmsford. Reading between the lines it seems as if this 
town had invited the three men to settle here; and Brother 
Parker speaking for them (in the plural number) said that 
God's hand was to be seen in the whole movement. The 
same hand which brought them to Chelmsford now pointed 
to Groton. Apparently the meeting was a protracted one, 
and "scarce a man in the Church but presently said the 
grounds, the grounds." This was another form of calling 
for the question, — in other words, for the reasons of the re- 
moval, whether valid or not. While the decision of the con- 
ference is not given in exact language, inferentially it was in 
favor of their going, — -as they were here in December, 1662. 
James Parker was a deacon of the Chelmsford church; and 
perhaps there had been some slight disagreement between 
him and a few of the other members. Evidently he was one 
of the pillars of the body at Chelmsford; and at once he 
became a deacon at Groton. To us now it is amusing to see 
what a commotion was raised because these three familes 
proposed to remove to another town. "Behold how great a 
matter a little fire kindleth." Fortunately for this town 
James Parker, James Fiske, and John Nutting with their 
households came here to live, where they all became useful 
and influential citizens far above the average. In his day 
James Parker was the most prominent man in Groton, filling 
many civil and military positions ; the next year after com- 
ing James Fiske was chosen selectman, and later town-clerk ; 
and John Nutting was appointed surveyor of highways. 
There are in this audience, doubtless, at the present moment 
many descendants of these three pioneers who had so many 
obstacles thrown in their way before taking up their abode 
here. If these families had not removed hither at that early 
period, perhaps their descendants now would be celebrating 
anniversaiies elsewhere rather than here, and might never 
have known what they lost by the change in their respective 



29 

birthplaces. Without being able to call them by name or to 
identify them in any way, to all such I offer the greetings of 
this gathering on the good judgment shown by their an- 
cestors. 

This town took its name from Groton Co. Suffolk, England, 
which was the native place of Deane Winthrop, one of the 
original petitioners for Groton Plantation. His name stands 
at the head of the list of selectmen appointed in 1655 by the 
General Court; and today we should give him the title of 
Chairman of the Board. He was a son of John Winthrop 
who came to New England in 1630 as Governor of Massachu- 
setts; and it was in compliment to him that the name of his 
birthplace was given to the town. Without much doubt he 
was a resident here for a few years; and in this opinion I am 
•supported by a distinguished member of that family, now de- 
ceased, who some time ago wrote me as follows: 

Boston, 27 February, 1878. 

My Dear Dr. Green, — It would give me real pleasure to aid you 
In establishing the relations of Deane Winthrop to the Town of Groton 
in Massachusetts. But there are only three or four letters of Deane's 
among the family papers in my possession, and not one of them is dated 
Groton. Nor can I find in any of the family papers a distinct reference 
to his residence there. 

There are, however, two brief notes of his, both dated " the 16 of 
December, 1662," which I cannot help thinking may have been written 
at Groton. One of them is addressed to his brother John, the Governor 
of Connecticut, who was then in London, on business connected with the 
Charter of Connecticut. In this note, Deane says as follows: — 

" I have some thoughts of removing from the place I now live in, into 
your Colony, if I could lit of a convenient place. The place that I now 
live in is too little for me, my children now growing up." 

We know thut Deane Winthrop was at the head of the first Board of 
Selectmen of Groton a few years earlier, and that he went to reside at 
Pullen Point, now called Winthrop, not many years after. 

I am strongly inclined to think with you that this note of Decamber, 
1662, was written at Groton. 

Yours very truly, 

RobT. C. Winthrop. 

Samuel a. Green, M. D. 



So 

During my boyhood I always, had a strong- desire to visit 
Groton in England, which gave its name to this town and 
indirectly to six other towns in the United States. Strictly 
speaking, it is not a town,, but a parish; and there are tech- 
nical distinctions between the two. More than fifty years 
ago I was staying in London, and as a stranger in that great 
metropolis, even after many inquiries I found much difficulty 
in learning the best way to reach the little village. All my 
previous knowledge in regard to the place was limited to the 
fact that it lay in the county of Suffolk, near its southern 
border. After a somewhat close study of a Railway Guide, 
I left Loudon by rail for Sudbury, which is the only town of 
considerable si'ze in the immediate neighborhood of Groton. 
After changing trains at a railway junction, of which the name 
has long since faded from my memory, I found myself in a 
carriage alone with a fellow passenger, who was both cour- 
teous and communicative, and thoroughly acquainted with 
the country through which we were passing. On telling him 
the purpose of my visit, he seemed to be much interested, and 
told me in return that he was very familiar with the parish 
of Groton ; and he had many questions to ask about our good 
old town, which I was both able and glad to answer. It soon 
turned out that my hitherto unknown friend was Sir Henry 
E. Austen, of Chelsworth, Hadleigh, who, on reaching Sud- 
bury, gave me a note of introduction to Richard Almack, 
Esq., of Long Melford, which I used a day or two afterward 
with excellent results. From Sudbury I drove in a dog-cart 
to Boxford, where I tarried over night at the White Horse 
Inn, and in the morning walked over to Groton, less than a 
mile distant. This place, — the object of my pilgrimage, — I 
found to be a typical English village of the olden time, very 
small both in territory and population, and utterly unlike 
any of its American namesakes. Its history goes back many 
generations, even to the period before Domesday Book, which 
was ordered by William the Conqueror more than eight hun- 
dred years ago, and which registers a survey of the lands of 
England made at that early date. The text is in Latin, and 
the words are much shortened. The writing is peculiar and 



'3* 

hard to read; but it gives some very interesting statistics in 
regard to the place. 

On reaching the end of my trip I called at once on the rec- 
tor, who received me very kindly and offered to go with me 
to the church, which invitation 1 readil} 7 accepted. He ex- 
pressed much interest in the New England towns bearing 
the name of Groton, and spoke of a visit made to the English 
town a few years previously, by the Honorable Robert C. 
Winthrop, of Boston, which gave him great pleasure. We 
walked over the grounds of the old manor, once belonging to 
John Winthrop, first Governor of Massachusetts; and Groton 
Place, the residence of the lord of the manor at that time, 
was pointed out, as well as a solitar}' mulbury tree, which 
stood in Winthrop's garden, and is now the last vestige of 
the spot. In strolling over the grounds I picked up some 
acorns under an oak, which were afterward sent home to 1113- 
father and planted here, but unfortunately they did not come 
up. I remember with special pleasure the attentions of Mr. 
R. F. Swan, postmaster at Boxford, who took me to a small 
school of little children, where the teacher told the scholars 
that I had come from another Groton across the broad ocean. 
He also kindly made for me a rough tracing of the part of the 
parish in which I was more particularly interested; and as I 
had left the inn at Boxford when he called , he sent it by private 
hands to me at the Sudbury railway-station. All these little 
courtesies and many more I recollect with great distinctness, 
and they add much to the pleasant memories of my visit to the 
ancestral town, which has such a numerous progeny of muni- 
cipal descendants in the United States. 

Of this large family our town, now celebrating the two hun- 
dred and fiftieth anniversary of its birth, is the eldest; and as 
the "first-born, higher than the kings of the earth." 

The next child in the order of descent is the town in Con- 
necticut, — younger than this town by just half a century, and 
during the Revolution the scene of the heroic Ledyard's 
death. It was so named in the year 1705; during the Gov- 
ernorship of Fitz-John Winthrop, out of respect to the Suffolk 
home of the family. In population this is the largest of the 



3^ 

various towns bearing the name,, and contains several thriv- 
ing villages. It is situated on the east bank of the Thames 
River, in New L,oudon County, 

The next town in age is the one in Grafton Count}', New 
Hampshire, which was originally granted by the Legislature 
of that State as. early as July 3, 1761, under the name o£ 
Cockermouth, and re-granted on November 22, 1766; but the 
present name of Groton was not given until December 7.. 
1796. It was chosen by certain inhabitants of the place, who 
were connected either by birth or through kindred with this, 
town. The population is small, and the principal pursuit of. 
the people is farming, though there are eight of ten saw-mills 
within its limits. Mica is found in great abundauce, and 
forms the basis of an important industry. There is a Spec- 
tacle Pond, lying partly within the town, of which the name 
may have gone from this neighborhood. There are two vil- 
lages in the township, the one known as North Groton, per- 
haps the more important, and the other situated near the 
southerly border, and known as Groton. Between these two 
villages, in the centre of the territory, are the town-house 
and an old burying ground where fifteen years ago I exam- 
ined many of the epitaphs and found a few family names that 
are still common here in our burying-ground. 

The fourth child in the municipal family is the town of 
Groton, Caledonia County, Vermont, a pretty village lying 
in the Wells River Valley, and chartered on October 20, 
1729, though the earliest settlers were living there a few 
years before that date. The first child born in the town was 
Sally, daughter of Captain Edmund and Sally (Wesson) 
Morse, who began her early pilgrimage on September 2, 
1787. The father was a native of our town, and principally 
through his influence the name of Groton was given to the 
home of his adoption among the foot-hills of the Green 
Mountains. Wells River runs through the township in a 
southeasterly direction, and with its tributaries affords some 
excellent water-power along its course. The stream rises in 
Groton Pond, a beautiful sheet of water, and empties into the 



33 

Connecticut at White River Junction, a railway centre of 
some importance. 

My visit to the town was made on July 26, 1S90, and while 
there I called on the Honorable Isaac Newton Hall, one of 
the oldest and most prominent citizens of the place, who 
kindly took me in his buggy through the village, pointing 
out by the way the various objects of public interest. The 
Methodist Episcopal church, situated at one end of the vil- 
lage street, had some memorial windows, of which two had 
inscriptions, as follows : — 

Capt " Edmund ' Morse 

Born * Groton ' Mass ■ 1764 

Died • Groton ■ Vt ■ 1843 



Sally ' Morse " Hill 

Born ' 1787 — Died " 1864 

The • First ' Person ■ Born ' in ■ Groton 

Before leaving the place I walked through the burying- 
ground and examined some of the epitaphs, but none of the 
names reminded me particularly of the parent town. 

The next town of the name is Groton, Erie County, Ohio, 
which was settled about the year 1809. It was first called 
Wheatsborough, after a Mr. Wheats, who originally owned 
most of the township. It lies in the region known as the Fire 
Lands of Ohio, a tract of half a million acres given by the 
State of Connecticut in May, 1792, to those of her citizens 
who had suffered losses from the enemy during the Revolu- 
tion. Like many other places in the neighborhood, the town 
took its name from the one in Connecticut. 

Late in the autumn of 1889 I happened to be in Nashville, 
Tennessee, as a member of a committee on business con- 
nected with the Peabody Normal College in that city, of 
which ex-President Hayes was chairman. On telling him 
incidentally that I proposed on my return homeward to 'stop 
for a short time at Groton, Erie County, Ohio, he kindly in- 
vited me to make him a visit at his home in Fremont, which 



34 

was very near my objective point; and he said furthermore 
that he would accompany me on my trip to that town, which 
offer I readily accepted. On the morning of November 27, 
we left Fremont by rail for Norwalk, the shire town of Huron 
Count}*, — a county in which the township of Groton formerly 
came, — where we alighted, and at once repaired to the rooms 
of the Firelands Historical vSociety. Here we were met by 
several gentlemen, prominent in the city as well as in the His- 
orical Society, who showed us many attentions. We had an 
opportunity there to examine various objects of interest con- 
nected with the early history of that part of the State. Then 
taking the cars again on our return, we proceeded as far as 
Bellevue, where we left the train. Here at a livery-stable we 
engaged a buggy and a pair of horses, without knowing ex- 
actly to what part of the township I wished to go, as I was 
then told there was no village of Groton, but only scat- 
tered farms throughout the town. One man, however, said 
that there was a place called Groton Centre, which seemed to 
me both very natural and familiar, and so thither we directed 
our course. After driving over very muddy roads for five or 
six miles, we inquired at a farm-house the way to Groton 
Centre, where we were told that a school-house in sight, half 
a mile off, was the desired place. There was no village what- 
ever to be seen in any direction ; and the building was the 
public voting-place, on which account the. neighborhood re- 
ceived the name. The town is entirely agricultural in its 
character, and the land is largely prairie with a rich soil. It 
is small in population, and does not contain even a post-office. 
The inhabitants for their postal facilities depend on Bellevue 
and Sandusky, adjacent places. 

Another town bearing the good name of Groton, which I 
have visited, is the one in Tompkins County, New York. 
More than eighteen years ago I found myself at Courtland, 
Courtland Count)', New 7 York, where I had gone in order to 
see the venerable Mrs. Sarah Chaplin Rockwood, a native of 
this town. She was a daughter of the Reverend Dr. Chaplin, 
the last minister settled by the town, and at that time she was 
almost one hundred and two years old. By a coincidence she 



35 

was then living on Groton Avenue, a thoroughfare which 
leads to Groton, Tompkins County, a town ten miles distant. 
Taking advantage of my nearness to that place, on May 4, 
1887, I drove there and was set down at the Groton Hotel, 
where I passed the night. Soon after my arrival I took a 
stroll through the village, and then called on Marvin Morse 
Baldwin, Esq., a lawyer of prominence, and the author of an 
historical sketch of the place, published in 1868. The town 
was formed originally, on April 7, 1817, from Locke, Cayuga 
County, under the name of Division; but during the next 
year this was changed to Groton, on the petition of the inhab- 
itants, some of whom were from Groton, Massachusetts, and 
others from Groton, Connecticut. The principal village is 
situated on Owasco Inlet, a small stream, and is surrounded 
by a rolling country of great beauty. The population is 
small, and the business chiefly confined to a machine-shop 
and foundry, several carriage-shops, and the making of agri- 
cultural implements. The town supports a National Bank 
and also a weekly newspaper, and has railway communica- 
tion with other places. 

In all these visits to the several towns of the same name, I 
have interested myself to learn the local pronunciation of the 
word. I have asked many persons in all ranks of life and 
grades of society in regard to the matter, and without excep- 
tion they have given it "Graw-ton," which every "native 
here, and to the manor born" knows so well how to pro- 
nounce. It has never been Grow-ton, or Grot-ton even, but 
always with a broad sound on the first and accented syllable. 
Such was the old pronunciation in England, and by the'con- 
tinuity of custom and tradition the same has been kept up 
throughout the several settlements in this country bearing 
the name. 

The latest town aspiring to the honor of the name of Groton 
is in Brown County, South Dakota. It was laid out about 
twenty-two years ago on land owned by the Chicago, Mil- 
waukee and St. Paul Railway Company. I have been in- 
formed that various New England names were seldleed by 
the Company and given to different townships along the line, 



36 

not for personal or individual reasons, but because they were 
short and well sounding, and unlike any others in the Terri- 
tory of that period. 

At some future day, if' my life be spared long enough, I 
may pay my respects to this youngest child of the name and 
visit her township. In that case I will describe her person- 
ality and place her in the family group with her elder sisters- 

During two centuries and a half, — the long period of time 
now under consideration, — many changes have taken place 
in the customs and manners of our people. Some of these 
are entirely forgotten, and traces of them are found only in 
the records of the past ; and i purpose to allude to a few. In 
this way a survival of their knowledge may be kept up, which 
will help the present generation in some degree to catch the 
attitude of its ancestors. 

In the early days of New England marriages were per- 
formed by magistrates only, and by other officers appointed 
for that particular purpose. It was many years before minis- 
ters of the Gospel were allowed to take part in the ceremony. 
At a town meeting held here, on December 15, 1669, the 
selectmen were authorized "to petition to the [General] 
Court for one to marry persons in our towne"; and it is 
probable that before this time persons wishing to be joined in 
wedlock were obliged either to go elsewhere in order to carry 
out their intention, or else a magistrate or other officer was 
brought for the occasion. At that period the population of 
the town was small, and the marriages were few in number; 
and before this date only eight couples are found as recorded 
of Groton. Perhaps these marriages were solemnized by a 
Commissioner of Small Causes, who was authorized equally 
with a magistrate to conduct the ceremony. These officers 
were empowered to act in all cases within the jurisdiction of 
a magistrate, and were approved, either by the Court of As- 
sistants or the County Courts, on the request of any town 
where there was no resident magistrate. They were three 
in number in each of such towns, and were chosen by the 
freemen. 



37 

Another instance of a change in early customs is found in 
connection with funerals, which formerly were conducted 
with severe simplicity. Our pious forefathers were opposed 
to all ecclesiastical rites, and any custom that reminded them 
of the English church met with their stern disapproval. And, 
furthermore, prayers over a corpse were very suggestive of 
those offered up for the dead by the Roman church; and to 
their minds such ceremonies savored strongly of heresy and 
superstition. A body was taken from the house to the grave, 
and interred without ceremony; and no religious services 
were held. Funeral prayers in New England were first made 
in the smaller towns before they were in the larger places. 
Their introduction into Boston was of so uncommon occur- 
rence that it caused some comment in a newspaper, as the 
following extract from "The Boston Weekly News- letter," 
December 31, 1730, will show: — 

Yesterday were Buried here the remains of that truly honourable & 
devout Gentlewoman, Mrs. SARAH BYFIELD, amidst the affectionate 
Respects & Lamentations of a numerous Concourse. — Before carrying 
out the Corpse, a Funeral Prayer was made, by one of the Pastors of the 
Old Church, to whose Communion she belong'd; which, tho' a Custom 
in the Country-Towns, is a singular Instance in this place, but it's 
wish'd may prove a leading Example to the general Practice of so chris- 
tian & decent a Custom. 

At a funeral the coffin was carried upon a bier to the place 
of interment by pall-bearers, who from time to time were re- 
lieved by others walking at their side. The bearers usually 
were kinsfolk or intimate friends of the deceased; and they 
were followed by the mourners and neighbors, who walked 
two by two. After the burial the bier was left standing over 
the grave ready for use when occasion should again require. 

Two centuries ago, writers of poetical compositions in 
memory of the dead were more common in New England 
than they are today. They gave utterance to their feelings 
in a form of verse known as the Elegy. Occasionally such pro- 
ductions were printed on single sheets, and circulated among 
the friends of the family. They were generally crude in their 



3$ 

HSefrfcaJ construction, but they afforded a certain kind of sad 
satisfaction to the mourners. Sometimes manuscript copies 
were made from the printed sheet, and these, too, were sent 
round to the friends of the departed. An entry in Judge. 
Sewall's Diary, under date of June 9, 16S5, would seem to. 
show that such verses were sometimes pinned or placed on. 
the coffin,, as in modern times flowers are laid on the graves. 
It is found in the paragraph describing the funeral of the 
Reverend Thomas Shepard at Charlestown, as follows — " It 
seems there were some verses ; but none pinned on the Herse. 
Scholars [from Harvard College] went before the Herse" 
(1.82). The meaning of the old form "herse" is coffin,, 
grave, tomb, etc., and the word has its modern representative 
in "hearse," a carriage for conveying the dead to the grave. 

Many years ago an old citizen of the town told me that 
once he served as a pall-bearer at the funeral of a friend who- 
died in Squannacook Village (West Groton). It took place 
near midsummer, in very hot weather : and he related how 
the procession was obliged to halt often in order to give a 
rest to the bearers, who were nearly prostrated by the heat 
during their long march. 

Hearses were first introduced into Boston about 1796, and 
into Groton a few years later. In the warrant for the Groton 
town meeting on April 4, 1803, Article No. 7 was 

To see if the town will provide a herse for the town's use, and give 
such directions about the same as they shall think fit. 

In the Proceedings of that meeting, after Article No. 7, it 
is recorded : — 

Voted that the town will provide a herse for the Town's use. 

Voted and chose James Brazer, Esq r Jacob L,. Parker, and Joseph 
Sawtell 3 d a Committee and directed them to provide a decent herse at 
the Town's expence. 

From the earliest period of our Colonial history training- 
days were appointed by the General Court for the drilling 
of soldiers ; and at intervals the companies used to come to- 



39 

tgether as a regiment and practise various military exercises 
From this custom sprang the regimental -muster, so common 
before the War of the Rebellion. 

During a long time, and particularly in the early part of 
the nineteenth century, many such musters were held here. 
A training-field often used for the purpose was the plain, 
situated near the Hollingsworth Paper-mills, a mile and a 
half northerly from the village. Sometimes they were held 
on the eastern side of the road, and at ether times on the 
westerly side. During my boyhood musters took place, twice 
certainly, on the easterly slope of the hill on the south side 
of the Broad Meadow Road near Farmers' Row : and also, 
once certainly, in the field lying southeast of Lawrence Acad- 
emy, near where Powder House Road now runs. 

Musters have been held on land back of the late Charles 
Jacobs's house, and in the autumn of 1850, in afield near the 
dwelling where Benjamin Moors used to live, close byjames's 
Brook, in the south part of the town. The last one in 
Groton, or the neighborhood even, took place on September 
13-14, 1852, and was held in the south part of the town, near the 
line of the Fitchburg Railroad on its northerly side, some 
distance east of the station. This was a muster of the Fifth 
Regiment of Light Infantry, and occurred while Mr. Boutwell 
Avas Governor of the Commonwealth ; and I remember well 
the reception which he gave to the officers on the intervening 
evening at his house, built during the preceding year. 

Akin to the subject of military matters, was a custom which 
formerly prevailed in some parts of Massachusetts, and per- 
haps elsewhere, of celebrating occasionally the anniversary 
of the surrender of Yorktowm, which falls on October 17. 
Such a celebration was called a " Cornwallis"; and it was 
intended to represent, in a burlesque manner, the siege of the 
town, as well as the ceremony of its surrender. The most 
prominent generals on each side would be personated, while 
the men of the two armies would wear what was supposed to 
be their peculiar uniform. I can recall now more than one 
such sham fight that took place in this town during my boy- 
hood. In 10 Cushing, 252, is to be found a decision of the 



40 

Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, enjoining a town 
treasurer from paying money that had been appropriated for 
such a celebration. 

James Russell Lowell, in his Glossary to " The Biglow 
Papers," thus defines the word : Cornwallis, a sort of muster 
in masquerade ■ supposed to have had its origin soon after the 
Revolution, and to commemorate the surrender of Lord Corn- 
wallis. It took the place of the old Guy Fawkes procession." 
Speaking in the character of Hosea Biglow, he asks, 

Recollect wut fun we hed, you'n' I an' Ezry Hollis 

Up there to Waltham plain last fall, along o' the Cornwallis? 

He further says in a note: "i hait the Sight of a feller with 
a muskit as i du pizn But their is fun to a cornwallis I aint 
agoin' to deny it." 

The last Cornwallis in this immediate neighborhood came 
off about sixty years ago at Pepperell ; and I remember wit- 
nessing it. Another Cornwallis on a large scale occurred at 
Clinton in the year 1853, in which nine uniformed companies 
of militia, including the Groton Artillery, took part. On this 
occasion the burlesque display, both in numbers and details, 
far outshone all former attempts of a similar character, and, 
like the song of a swan, ended a custom that had come 
down from a previous century. At the present day nothing 
is left of this quaint celebration but a faded memory and an 
uncertain tradition. 

The first settlers of Massachusetts brought with them from 
England a good suppty of seeds and stones of various fruits, 
grains, and vegetables, which were duly planted. In this way 
was begun the cultivation of apples, pears, peaches, plums, 
cherries, wheat, rye, barley, oats, beans, peas, potatoes, hops, 
currants, etc., and in the course of a few years they raised 
fair crops of all these products. 

As early as 1660 all inn-holders and tavern-keepers were 
required to have a license in order to be allowed to carry on 
their business ; and they were obliged to be approbated by the 
selectmen of the town and to be licensed by the County 
Court. At the same time a restriction was placed on makers 



4i 

of cider, who were not allowed to sell by retail, except under 
certain conditions ; " and that it be only to masters of families 
of good and honest report, of persons going to Sea, and they 
suffer not any person to drink the same in their houses, cel- 
lars or yards." This reference, found in "The Book of the 
General Lawes and Libertyes" (Cambridge, 1660), shows 
that at an early date in the history of the Colony the pro- 
hibitory principle was recognized by legislative enactment, 
and that it is by no means a modern idea. The reference 
shows furthermore that cider was made by the settlers at an 
early period. Few persons of the rising generation are aware 
of the great quantities of cider made fifty or seventy-five 
years ago on almost every farm in an agricultural commu- 
nity. I am placing the estimate within moderate bounds when 
I say that every good-sized farm in Groton had an apple or- 
chard and a cider-mill on the premises. Many a farmer 
would make all the way from ten to thirty barrels of cider 
for home use, besides what he would sell elsewhere or make 
into vinegar; and this large stock was kept in the cellar. 
There are now in this audience men and women who remem- 
ber how years ago they used to suck sweet cider through a 
long rye straw, as it ran from the press. At such times the 
children were often as thick as honey-bees round the bung- 
hole of a hogshead of molasses in summer time. 

Many plants were brought to New England originally from 
other countries for their medicinal virtues, and many were 
introduced by chance. Some have multiplied so rapidly 
and grown so plentifully in the fields and by the roadside, 
that they are now considered common weeds. Wormwood, 
tansy, chamomile, yarrow, dandelion, burdock, plantain, 
catnip, and mint all came here by importation. These exotic 
plants made their way into the interior, as fast as civilization 
extended in that direction; though in some instances the 
seeds may have been carried by birds in their flight. 

Dr. William Douglass, in "A Summary, Historical and 
Political, of the first Planting, progressive Improvements, 
and present State of the British Settlements in North 



42 

America," published at Boston (Volume I. in the year 1749, 
and Volume II. in 1753), says: — 

Near Boston and other great Towns, some Field Plants which accident- 
ally have been imported from Europe, spread much, and are a great 
Nuasance in Pastures, ... at present they have spread Inland from 
Boston, about 30 Miles (II. 207). 

According to this statement, the pioneers of some of these 
foreign plants or weeds had already reached the township of 
Groton near the middle of the eighteenth century. Dr. 
Douglass gives another fact about the town which may be 
worthy of preservation, as follows: — 

There are some actual Surveys of Extents which ought not to be lost 
in Oblivion; as for Instance, from Merrimack River due West to Groton 
Meeting-House are 12 miles; from Groton Meeting-House (as surveyed 
by Col. Stoddard, Major Fnlham, and Mr. Dwight, by Order of the Gen- 
eral Assembly) to Northfield Meeting-House W. 16 d. N. by Compass are 
41 Miles and half (I. 425 note). 

Such surveys, as those given in this extract, were of more 
interest to the public, before the days of railroads, than the} 7 
are now; but, as the author says, they " ought not to be lost 
in Oblivion." 

The greatest advance in social and moral life during the 
last one hundred and twenty-five years has been in the cause 
of temperance. Soon after the period of the Revolution there 
arose an abuse of spirituous liquors, perhaps induced in part 
by the return home of young men from the army, who while 
absent had acquired the habit of drinking to excess. There 
was no public occasion, from a wedding to a funeral, or from 
the ordination of a minister to the raising of a house or barn, 
when rum in many of its Protean shapes was not given out. It 
was set on the festive sideboard, and used freely both by the 
old and young; and sometimes even the pastor of the church 
yielded to the insidious seduction of the stimulant. Liquors 
were sold at retail at most of the trading shops in town, and 
at the three taverns in the village. The late Elizur Wright, 
an eminent statistician, and nearly eighty years ago a resident 



43 

of Groton, once told me in writing that, according to an esti- 
mate made by him at that period, the amount of New Eng- 
land rum sold here in one year was somewhat over 28,000 
gallons. This was not a guess on his part, but was taken 
from the books of dealers in the fluid, who had kindly com- 
plied with his request for the amount of their sales during 
the previous year. We judge of the whole from the specimen. 

It is generally supposed that the huge department stores in 
the large cities are a modern institution, so far as they relate 
to the variety of articles sold ; but in this respect they are only 
an imitation of the old-time country store. Fifty years ago the 
average trading shop kept about everything that was sold, 
from a pin to a plough, from silks and satins to stoves and 
shovels; and from tea and coffee to tin dippers and cotton drill- 
ing, flour, all kinds of dry goods and groceries, molasses, 
raisins, bricks, cheese, hats, nails, sperm oil, grindstones, boots 
and shoes, drugs and medicines, to say nothing of a supply of 
confectionery for the children; besides a daily barter of any 
of the aforesaid articles for fresh eggs and butter. The 
traders were omniverous in their dealings, and they kept on 
hand nearly everything that was asked for by the customers. 
In this respect they have set an example to the proprietors 
of the department stores, who offer for sale an equally mis- 
cellaneous assortment of goods. 

Within the last three-quarters of a century, perhaps the 
most useful invention' given to mankind, certainly one very 
widely used, has been the common friction match. Appar- 
ently it is so trifling and inconspicuous that among the great 
discoveries of the nineteenth century it is likely to be over- 
looked. This little article is so cheap that no hovel or ham- 
let throughout Christendom is ever without it, and yet so 
useful that it is found in every house or mansion, no matter 
how palatial, and in every vessel that sails the sea. Bunches 
of matches are made by the millions and millions, and broad 
acres of forests are cut down each year to supply the wood ; 
and in every home they are used without regard to waste or 
economy. "No correct statistics of match making can be 
given, but it has been estimated that six matches a day for each 



44 

individual of the population of Europe and North America 
is the average consumption." (The American Cyclopaedia, 
New York, 1883.) Perhaps no other invention of the last 
century comes so nearly in touch with the family and house- 
hold in all parts of the civilized world as this necessity of 
domestic life. 

I have mentioned these facts in some detail as the friction 
match has had such a close connection with country life in 
New England, as elsewhere. In early days when fire was 
kept on the domestic hearth, from month to month and from 
year to year, by covering up live coals with ashes, sometimes 
from one cause or another it would go out ; and then it was 
necessary to visit a neighbor to "borrow fire," as the ex- 
pression was. If the distance was short, live coals might be 
brought on a shovel; but if too far, a lighted candle could 
be carried in a tin lantern and furnish the needed flame. 
Often a flint-and-steel was used for striking fire, but some- 
times even this useful article was wanting. I have heard of 
instances where a man would fire off a gun into a wad of tow 
and set it on fire, and thus get the desired spark to start the 
blaze. 

Another invention, which has come into general use within 
the last sixty years, and has changed the destinies of the 
world, is Morse's electric telegraph. In the sending of mes- 
sages it practically annihilates space, and has worked wonders 
in science and in the every-day affairs of life. By means of 
it the words of Puck become a reality when he says : 

I '11 put a girdle round about the Earth 
In forty minutes. 

If the ocean telegraph had been in operation at that time, 
the battle of New Orleans, on January 8, 1815, would not 
have been fought. It took place a fortnight after the 
treaty of peace had been signed at Ghent, though the tidings 
of the treaty were not received in this country until a month 
after the action. The chances are that Andrew Jackson 
would never have been President of the United States if he 



45 

had not gained that battle ; nor would Martin Van Buren have 
succeeded to the same high office if as Secretary of State or 
as Vice-President he had not been associated with Jackson. 
This will serve as an illustration of the influence which the 
telegraph may have on human affairs. 

Little short of fifty years ago I spent an evening with Pro- 
fessor Morse at his rooms in Paris, and he told me a thrilling 
tale of the circumstances which led up to his great discovery 
of the application of electricity to the sending of messages ; 
and how the thought first came to him many years before, 
when in a packet ship on the voyage from Havre to New 
York. I have often regretted that I did not then write down 
at once my recollections of the visit, while they were fresh in 
my memory; but unfortunately I did not do so. 

A telegraph office in this village was opened on Saturday, 
March 20, 1880, and the first message along its wires was 
sent to Nashua, New Hampshire. The office was in the 
railway station, where it has since remained. 

The telephone office here was first opened on Friday, April 
29, 1881, in the building at the south corner of Main Street 
and Station Avenue, where it still remains ; and there are 
now more than one hundred and twenty subscribers. 

By the side of the investigations connected with this ad- 
dress I am reminded that the First Parish Meeting-house is 
now one hundred and fifty years old. During one half of this 
period it was the only designated place of worship within the 
limits of the town ; and for these seventy-five years it was the 
centre of the religious life of the people. From its walls went 
forth all the efforts that made for the highest and noblest 
activities of human nature. It was the fourth meeting-house 
used by the town, and stands on the site of the third building, 
a spot which was by no means the unanimous choice of the 
town when that structure was built ; and the usual contro- 
versy then took place over the site. It was begun in 17 14, 
and was two years in process of building. In early times there 
was always much contention in regard to the local position of 
the house, some wanting it put in one place, and others in 
another, according to the convenience of their respective 



46 

families. Mr. Butler, in his History of Groton, says : " But 
the momentous affairs of deciding upon a spot on which to 
set a public building, and choosing and settling a minister, 
are not usually accomplished without much strife and con- 
tention, and are sometimes attended with long and furious 
quarrels and expensive lawsuits" (page 306). The Rever- 
end Joseph Emerson, the first minister of Groton West Par- 
ish, now known as Pepperell, explains the cause thus : "It 
hath been observed that some of the hottest contentions in this 
land hath been about settling of ministers and building meet- 
ing-houses; and what is the reason? The devil is a great 
enemy to settling ministers and building meeting-houses; 
wherefore he sets on his own children to work and make 
difficulties, and to the utmost of his power stirs up the cor- 
ruptions of the children of God in some way to oppose or ob- 
struct so good a work." 

With no desire to dispvite Mr. Emerson's theory in regard 
to the matter, I think that the present generation would 
hardly accept this explanation as the correct one. 

For some months, perhaps for one or two years, before the 
present house of worship was built, the question of a new 
structure was considered and discussed at town-meetings. It 
was then in the air, and finally the matter took concrete 
shape. On May 6, 1754, the town made definite plans for a 
raising of the frame ; and on such occasions at that period of 
time rum was supposed to be needed, not only to bring to- 
gether a crowd to help along the work, but also to give 
strength to the workers. At that meeting the following vote 
was passed: — 

at a Legal meeting of the Inhabitants at Groton qualleyfied 
by Law for voting in Town affairs assembled chose Cap' ban- 
croft moderator for s d meeting 

The question was put which way they would face the meet- 
inghouse and the major vote was for facing s d house to the 
west. 

Voted that The meeting house Com tee prouide one hogs- 
head of Rum one Loaf of white Shugar one quarter of a hun- 
dred of brown Shugar also voted that Deacon Stone Deacon 



47 

farwell Lt Isaac woods benje Stone Lt John Woods Cap 1 Sam 11 
Tarbell Amos Lawrence Ensign Obadiah Parker Cap' ban- 
croft be a Com tee and to prouide Victuals and Drink for a hun- 
dred men and If the people Dont subscribe among them the 
Com tee to purchas the Remainder up on the Towns Cost. 

Voted that The Com tee that Got the Timber for The meet- 
ing house haue Liberty with such as shall subscribe thear to 
to build a porch at the front Dore of the meeting house up on 
their own Cost 

Then voted that the Select men prouide some conuiant 
place to meet in upon the Sabbath Till further order. 

According to Joseph Farwell's note-book the raising took 
place on May 22, 1754, — which day fell on Wednesday, — 
and lasted until Saturday, May 25. It is to be hoped that 
during these three days no accident happened on account of 
the liquid stimulant. Probably the work of the building was 
pushed with all the speed then possible and available; and, 
probably too, it was used for worship long before it was fin- 
ished. During this period of interruption in the public ser- 
vices it is very likely that the Sunday meetings were held at 
the house of the minister, Mr. Trowbridge, who then lived 
on the site of the High School building. 

According to Farwell's note-book, on August 18, 1754, 
Mrs. Sarah Dickinson became a member of the church, the 
first person so admitted in the new meeting-house. She was 
the widow of James Dickinson, who died only a few weeks 
before, and was buried in the old grave-yard. According to 
the same authority, the sacrament of the Lord's Supper was 
administered in the new building for the first time on Novem- 
ber 15, 1754. 

The early settlers did not believe much in outward cere- 
mony; and the new meeting-house was never formally dedi- 
cated by a special service. Perhaps, when the house was 
first opened for worship, Mr. Trowbridge preached a sermon 
in keeping with the occasion; and very likely in his prayer 
he made some allusion to the event. We are told that the 
prayer of the righteous man availeth much. The homage 



4 s 

paid to the Creator of the universe each Sunday, both by the 
pulpit and the pews, would consecrate any such structure to 
its high purpose. Simple in their religious faith, the wor- 
shippers had no use for ecclesiastical forms. Not alone by 
their words, but by their thoughts, they dedicated the meet- 
ing-house. Sometimes words not spoken have more mean- 
ing than those which are uttered. 

The Common, in front of the present meeting-house, was a 
place closely connected with the life of the town. Here at 
an early period the two militia companies used to meet and 
drill at regular times, known as training-days. On the Com- 
mon the two companies of minute-men rallied on the morning 
of that eventful nineteenth of April, and received their 
ammunition from the town's stock, which was stored in the 
Powder- House near by. Here they took farewell of friends 
and families, knowing full well the responsible duties that 
rested on their shoulders, and the dangers that threatened 
them. These men marched hence on that memorable day as 
British subjects, but they came back as independent citizens 
who never knew again the authority of a king. 

In that house Mr. Dana, a young and rising lawyer of 
Groton, pronounced a eulogy on General Washington, which 
was delivered on Saturday, February 22, 1800, a few weeks 
after his death. The military companies of the town attend- 
ed the exercises. Miss Elizabeth Farnsworth (1791-1884) 
as a little girl was present on the occasion, and Mrs. Sarah 
(Capell) Gilson (1793-1890), remembered the event, though 
not present at the exercises; and they both gave me their 
faint recollections of the day. 

The meeting-house was remodelled in the year 1839, when 
it was partially turned round, and the north end of the build- 
ing made the front, facing the west, as it now stands. For- 
merly the road to the east part of the town went diagonally 
across the Common, and passed down the hill to the south of 
the meeting-house; and there was no highway on the north 
side. Before this change in the building was made, the town- 
meetings were always held in the body of the house; and the 



49 

voting was done in front of the pulpit. In my mind's eye 1 
•can see now the old pulpit, with the sounding-board hang- 
ing overhead. 

The town-clock in the steeple, so familiar to tverj' man. 
woman, and child in Groton, was made by James Ridgway, 
and placed in the tower some time during the spring of 1809, 
It was paid for in part, by the town, and in part by private 
.subscription. Mr. Ridgway was a silversmith and a clock- 
maker, who during the war with England (1812-1815) car- 
ried on a large business in this neighborhood. He afterward 
removed to Keene, New Hampshire, where he lived for many 
years. His shop was situated on Main street, nearly opposite 
to the Groton Inn, but it disappeared a long time ago. 

The bell of the meeting-house was cast in the year 18 19 by 
Revere and Son, Boston, and, according to the inscription, 
weighs 1 1 28 pounds. 

On this interesting occasion we are all glad to have present 
with us the venerable Zara Patch, a native of Groton and the 
oldest inhabitant of the town. His ancestry in both branches 
of the family runs back nearly to the beginning of the settle- 
ment, and in his person is represented some of the best blood 
of old Groton stock; and w T e welcome him at this time. He 
is the last survivor of nineteen citizens who signed the call 
for the due observance of the Bi-centennial anniversary, on 
October 31, 1855, which was issued in the preceding May. 

Fifty years ago the town had a celebration of the two- 
hundredth anniversary of its settlement, similar to the one 
we are now holding. On that occasion Governor Boutwell 
was President of the day, and the Reverend Arthur Buck- 
minster Fuller, a younger brother of Margaret Fuller, — of a 
family once resident here, — made the historical address, 
which was delivered in the Congregational Meeting-house. 
Colonel Eusebius Silsby Clark, who lost his life in the War 
of the Rebellion, at Winchester, Virginia, on October 17, 
1864, was the Chief Marshal. Of his six aids on that day 
John Warren Parker and myself are the sole survivors, and 
the only representatives of those who had an official connec- 
tion with the exercises ; and now we are left the last two leaves 



5° 

on the branch. At that celebration Mr. Parker was also one 
of the Committee of Arrangements; and we are all glad to see 
him present on this occasion. 

Groton is a small town, but there are those who love her 
and cherish her good name and fame. She has been the 
mother of many a brave son and many a fair daughter, duti- 
ful children who through generations "arise up and call her 
blessed." She is the Mount Zion of a large household. Of 
her numerous family, from the nursling to the aged, by her 
example she has spared no pains to make them useful citizens 
and worthy members of society. In former years she was 
relatively a much more important town than she is now. At 
the time of the first national census in 1790, in population 
Groton was the second town in Middlesex County, Cambridge 
alone surpassing it. In order to learn the true value of some 
communities, and to give the inhabitants of Groton their 
proper rank, they should be weighed and not counted; and 
by this standard it would be found that the town has not 
been lessened even in relative importance. Bigness and great- 
ness are not synonymous words, and in their meaning there 
is much difference between them. In all our thoughts and 
deeds, let us do as well by the town as she has done by us. 

Fellow Townsmen and Neighbors, — the stint you set me 
is now done. On my part it has proved to be not a task, but 
a labor of love. If anything that I may have said should 
spur others to study the history of an old town that was typi- 
cal of life among plain folk in the early days of New Eng- 
land, and one that has left an honorable record during the 
various periods of its existence, my aim will have been 
reached. 



APPENDIX. 



The Name of Grotou. 

I am indebted to the courtesy of Dr. Edward Mussey 
Hartwell for the following paper on the origin of the name 
of Groton. From any other source I could not have obtained 
such a scholarly essay on the subject ; and it places me under 
great obligations to him. Dr. Hartwell passed his boyhood 
in Littleton, where his father's family belonged ; and he fitted 
for college mostly at Lawrence Academy, so that he has in- 
herited an historical interest in the neighborhood. 

Statistics Department. 
Boston, July 3, 1905. 
Hon. Samuel A. Green, Librarian, 

Massachusetts Historical Society. 

Dear Dr. Green, — What follows contains the gist of my notes on 
Groton. For the sake of conciseness and brevity, I forbear (1) from fully 
describing the sources whence my citations are derived, and (2) from 
quotation of authorities regarding the linguistic affinities of the com- 
ponents of the word Groton. However, I may say that I can support 
every statement by documentary evidence that seems conclusive to me. 

Groton occurs as a place name both in England and the United 
States. Groton in England, which is situated in the County of Suffolk, 
appears to be a small parish of some 1560 acres, of which 39 are in com- 
mon. The " Dictionnaire des Bureaux de Poste " published at Berne in 
1895, gives six post offices in various parts of the United States having 
the name of Groton. Two of them, viz., Groton, Massachusetts, and 
Groton, Connecticut, date from Colonial times, i. e., from 1655 and 1705 
respectively, and numbered among their original grantees or proprietors 



5? 

tttemhers of the Winthrop family whose ancestral seat was Groton in the- 
Babenberg Hundred, County Suffolk, England, whence it is reasonable to- 
suppose all Grotons in this country have derived their name. Among 
them Grotou, Mass., is the most ancient. The name (spelt Groaten) ap- 
pears in a vote of the General Court dated Ma}- 29, 1655, to grant a new 
plantation at Petapawag to- Mr. Deane Winthrop and others. In later 
records of the General Court, e. g., May 26, 1658, the form Crofen ap- 
pears; and in the same records under date of November 12, 1659, both 
Groten and Groaten appear. 

The Manor of Groton in. Babenberg Hundred in the Liberty of St. Ed- 
mund and the County of Suffolk, England, according to the Domesday 
Book (1086) belonged to the Abbey of Bury of St. Edmund's in the time 
of Edward the Confessor (1042-1065). In 1544 the request of Adam Wyn- 
thorpe to purchase "the Farm of the Manor of Grotou (Suffolk) late of 
the Monastery of Bury St Edmund's " was granted by Henry VIII. (into 
whose hands it had come when the monasteries were suppressed) for the 
sum of ^408. 18s. 3d. Governor John Winthrop, grandson of Adam: 
Wynthorpe, was Lord of the Manor of Groton in 1618. In 1630 or 1631 
he sold his interest therein for ,£"4,200. I find the name of this manor- 
spelt variously at different times as follows: 

1. Gvotena (a) in Domesday Book in 1086. 

(b) in Jocelin de Brakeloud's Chronicle in 1200- 

(c) in the Hundred Rolls in 1277. 

2. Grott'we' (a) in Joe. de Brakelond about 1200. 

(b) in the Patent Rolls, 1291 and 1298. 

3. Grottwa in Joe. de Brakelond about 1200. 

4. Grotone (a) in Joe. de Brakeloud about 1200. 

(b) in the Patent Rolls in 1423. 

(c) in Dugdale's citation of a Ms. of 1533. 

5. Groton (a) in Dugdale's citation of a Ms. of 14th Century. 

(b) in Records of the Augmentation Office, 1541 and 1544. 

Jocelin de Brakelond was a monk of Bury St. Edmund's who, as Chap- 
lain of the Abbot, wrote the Chronicle which bears his name. It covers 
the period 1173-1203, i. e., the incumbency of Abbot Samson. The fre- 
quent mention of Groton in this Chronicle, written just at the beginning 
of the thirteenth century, may be accounted for by the fact that the Ab- 
bey and certain claimants named de Cokefield had a law-suit over lands 
at Groton. 

Since 1541 Groton appears to have been the form of the name of the 
English manor, parish or hamlet. It may be remarked: (1) that " de 
Grotena " is found as a personal name in the Hundred Rolls 1297; and 
" de Grotton " in the Scotch Rolls, 1327; while a holding named Grot- 
ton, " late of the Monastery of Delacres in Staffordshire" is mentioned 
in the records of the Augmentation Office, 1547; and Grotton, a railway 



53 

station in Lancashire, is mentioned in a "Comprehensive Gazetteer of 
England and Wales," a recent but undated work. 

The Latinized in " Grotena " and " Grotenam " of the Domesday Book 
give rise to the suggestion that Groten has the force of an adjective 
(meaning gravelly, gritty, stony or sandy), which served to characterize 
a tract of land, or perhaps a hill, a pit, a ham, or a ton. I take grot to 
be one form of the Old English greot, grut (Middle English, greet, gret, 
and Modern English, grit) meaning gravel. 

The following is a series of forms in which variants of gredt seem to 
have adjectival force: 

(i) Greotan edesces loud relating to land in Kent in a charter dated 822. 
Possibly greotan may stand for greatan, meaning big. 

(2) Grefenlinkes, in Hampshire, in a land charter of 966. 

(3) Gretindun (later Grettou in Dorsetshire), mentioned in a charter 

of 1019. 

(4) Gretenhowe, the name of Gretna in Scotland, in 1376. 

(5) Grotintune, a manor in Shropshire, Domesday Book, 1086. 

(6) Gratentou. (?) , a manor in Berkshire, Domesday Book, 1086. 

On the other hand, the form Greotaw may be the dative plural of greol 
(for greot//;// ?) used in a locative sense "at the gravels," since Gravelal 
and Gravelei occur as place names in Domesday Book and Gravell oc- 
curs in the Hundred Rolls, temp. Edw. I. 

The following scheme, derived from various standard lexicons, exhib- 
its the etymological affinities of Greot (grit). 



Old Middle Modern 

Saxon Griot, griet, cf. English and Ger- cf. English, German 

greot, man, and Norse. 

English Greot, grut, Greot, Greet, grit, gryt, Grit, grot, grout. 

grot • gret, 

High German Grioz, Griesz, 
Norse : 

Icelandic Grjot (griot), Grjot, 

Danish and 

Norwegian Grjot, Grjot, Gryt(e), 

Swedish 
Old Frisian gret. 
Low German grott. 

Grot for gredt, appears to be an old and rather rare form. It should 
be stated that British place (and personal) names having Gret are much 
more numerous than those having Grot in the first syllable. Gretton is 



Gries, Gruse, Grans. 

Grjot, Gryttn. 

Gruus, Grus, Gryttn. 
Grus, Grytt. 



54 

the name of» several manors mentioned in Domesday, e. g., the present 
Girton (formerly called Gritton) (cf. Girton College), near Cambridge 
(Cambs.) and Gretton in Northamptonshire, still called Gretton. The 
last was Gretton (gryttune in 1060), Greton in 1086, Gretton in 1277, 
1678, and 1895. 

Other forms besides Gretton are: Gret-a = Gritwater, a stream in Cum- 
berland, cf .Greta-marsc( = Grit-water-marsh?), 821 ; Greta-bridge =Grit- 
water bridge, Gret-ford, Gret-ham, Gret-land, Gret-well. Southey, the 
poet, lived at Greta Hall. 

Greta river in Cumberland had its counterpart in Grjdtd, in the eleventh 
century in Iceland, translated Gritwater by Dasent in " The Burnt 
Nial." Gryttnbakki = Gravel hill or Gravel bank, is the name of (1) a 
modern post-office in Iceland and (2) another in Denmark. Grytten is a 
place name of today in Norway. 

The Icelandic (Old Norse) Grjdt-garth meant stone fence. Akin to 
garth (gard) are the Norwegian guard and Swedish gard, a landed estate 
or homestead; and the English Cloister-garth, yard, garden, and or- 
chard (ort-geard). 

Ton in Groton, Boston, etc., is related to M. E. Ton (Tone), O. E. tun, 
tune, O. Norse tun, O. Frisian tun, O. H. German taun, and German 
zaun, a hedge or fence, meant also, field, yard, manor, hamlet, village 
and town or city. 

Garth (yard) presents a parallel series of similar meanings, e. g., O. 
Norse for Constantinople was Myckel-gard, i. e., the Great City. 

I think that Groton stands for Grot-ton (cf. Gretton, Grit-ton) and is 
practically equivalent to the Icelandic Grjot-garth, and that your sug- 
gestion in 1876 as to the meaning of Groton was a happy one. Floreat 
Grotena! 

Yours faithfully, 

Edward M. Hartwell. 



Bi-cen ten ti ia I Celebra tioii . 

The following extracts from the town-records relate to the 
celebration of the two hundredth anniversary of the settle- 
ment of Groton, which took place fifty years ago. They have 
never yet been printed, but are given here, as they have a 
certain connection with the celebration recently held. With 
the exception of the Reverend Edwin A. Bulkley, ever}- man 



55 

whose name is mentioned in these extracts is now dead, show- 
ing the ravages which half a century may bring about. 




In the warrant for the Town Meeting, November 13, 1854, 
Article 2 is as follows : — 

To see if the town will take any measures to notice or celebrate the 
Two Hundredth anniversary since the settlement of the town of Groton 
in the year 1655 or pass any vote in relation to the same. 

[p- 389-] 

In the proceedings of the meeting it is recorded that : — 

The subject matter of this article [2] was referred to the following com- 
mittee with instructions to report at a future meeting. 



Stuart J. Park 
Josiah Bigelow 
Wm. Shattuck 
Willard Torrey 
Norman Shattuck 
John Pingree 
Elnathan Brown 
Charles Prescott 



Jacob Pollard 
Abel Tarbell 
Joseph Sanderson 
Calvin Blood 
Joseph Brown 
Silas Nutting 
Joseph Rugg 
Charles A. Hutson 



[P- 392-] 



Proceecdings at the Town Meeting, March 5, 1855 : — 

The committee chosen in Nov. last upon the Article "To see if the 
Town will take any measures to notice or celebrate the two hundredth 
anniversary since the settlement of the town of Groton in the year 1655 
or pass any vote in relation to the same " have attended to that duty and 
submit the following Report : 



56 

That there are eras or wayinarks in the history of a people which it 
well becomes them to notice or celebrate, and such we consider the ap- 
proaching anniversary of the incorporation of this town, and would 
therefore recommend to the town to celebrate said anniversary with be- 
coming festivities, and that a committee be chosen to take the whole 
subject into consideration and report at the next April meeting a plan or 
mode of celebrating said anniversary. 

Stuart J. Park 
Joseph Bigelow Wm. Shattuck 

Joseph Rugg Willard Torrey 

Norman Shattuck Silas Nutting 

[P- 403-] 

The above report was accepted and the following gentlemen were 
chosen a committee to report a plan or mode of celebrating said anniver- 
sary at the next April meeting. 

Geo. S. Boutwell Josiah Bigelow 

Rev. David Fosdick David Lakin 

B. Russell Dr. George Stearns 

S. J. Park Norman Smith 

Peter Nutting Daniel Needham 

Nath 1 Stone Rev. Daniel Butler 

B. P. Dix John Spaulding 

Rev. Crawford Nightingale Curtis Lawrence 

" E. A. Bulkley Geo. W. Bancroft 

" George E. Tucker J. F. Hall, Jr. 

" [John M.] Chick Noah Shattuck 

Geo. F. Farley Joshua Gilson 

Calvin Fletcher P. G. Prescott 

Abel Tarbell J. G. Park 

Walter Shattuck Wm. Shattuck 
[p- 403-] 
Proceedings at the Town Meeting, April 2, 1855 : — 

Voted, That the report of the Committee on the second Centennial 
Anniversary celebration be accepted and placed on file, also chose the 
following persons a committee to make preparations and arrangements 
for the celebration as mentioned in said report with discretionary pow- 
ers as to the same, to wit. 



Geo. F. Farley ~) 

Joshua Green 

S. J. Park 

Geo. S. Boutwell 

David Fosdick, Jr. J 



General 
Committee. 



57 



)istrict No. i 


Henry A. Bancroft 


District No. 9 


Thos. Hutchins 


2 


Curtis Lawrence 


10 


Rufus Moors 


3 


Josiah Bigelow 


11 


John Pingree 


4 


Edmund Blood 


12. 


Nath 1 Stone 


5 


Wm. Shattuck 


13 


E. D. Derby 


6 


Solomon Story 


14 


S. W. Rowe 


7 


Reuben Lewis 


15 


Ch's. Prescott 


8 


Calvin Blood 


16 


Allen Blood 



[p. 407.] 

Many years ago I obtained the letters and other manu- 
scripts, together with the printed circulars, connected with 
the Bi-centennial Celebration ; and I have had them carefully 
arranged, bound in a volume, and placed in the Library of 
the Massachusetts Historical Society. 



List of Indian Words, 

The following Indian names, applied by the early settlers 
to streams, ponds, or places, in the original township of 
Groton and neighborhood, for the most part are still in com- 
mon use. The spelling of these words varies, as at first they 
were written according to their sound and not according to 
their derivation. In the absence of any correct standard 
either of spelling or pronunciation, which always character- 
izes an unwritten language, the words have become so twisted 
and distorted that much of their original meaning is lost; but 
their root generally remains. It is rare to find an Indian 
word in an early document spelled twice alike. In the lapse 
of time these verbal changes have been so great that the red 
man himself would hardly recognize any of them by sound. 
Even with all these drawbacks such words now furnish one 
of the few links in a chain of historical facts connecting mod- 
ern times with the prehistoric period of New England. As 
the shards that lie scattered around the site of old Indian 
dwellings are eagerly picked up by the archaeologist for criti- 
cal examination, so these isolated facts about place-names 
are worth saving by the antiquary for their philological 
value. "Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing 
be lost." 



5§ 

Babbitasset — formerly the name of a village in Pepperell, now included 

in East Pepperell. 
Baddacook — a pond in the eastern part of the town. 
Catacoonaning — a stream in Shirley, which empties into the Nashua. 
Chicopee — a district in the northerly part of the town, and applied to 

the highway approaching it, called Chicopee Row. 
Humhau — a brook in Westford. 
Kissacook — a hill in Westford. 

Massapoag — a pond lying partly in Groton and partly in Dunstable. 
Mulpus — a brook in Shirley. 
Nagog — a pond in Littleton. 
Nashoba — the old name of the Praying Indian village in Littleton, now 

applied to a hill in that town as well as to a brook in Westford. 
Nashua — a river running through the township, and emptying into the 

Merrimack. 
Naumox — a district near the Longley monument, lying west of the East 

Pepperell road; said to have been the name of an Indian chief. 
Nissitisset — applied to the neighborhood of Hollis, New Hampshire, 

and to a river and hill in Pepperell. 
Nonacoicus — a brook in Ayer, though formerly the name was applied to 

a tract of land in the southerly part of Groton, and is shortened often 

to Coicus. 
Nubanussuck — a pond in Westford. 
Petaupaukett — a name found in the original petition to the General 

Court for the grant of the town, and used in connection with the terri- 
tory of the neighborhood; sometimes written Petapawage and 

Petapaway. 
Quosoponagon — a meadow "on the other side of the river," mentioned 

in the land-grant of Thomas Tarbell, Jr., the same word as Quasaponi- 

kin, formerly the name of a tract of land in Lancaster, but now given 

to a meadow and a hill in that town, where it is often contracted into 

Ponikin. 
Sliabikin, or more commonly S/iab7>kiti, applied to a district in Harvard, 

bodering on the Nashua, below Still River village. 
Squannacook — a river in the western part of the town flowing into 

the Nashua; a name formerly applied to the village of West Groton. 
Tadtnuck — a brook and a meadow in Westford. 
Cnquetenassett, or Unquetenorset — a brook in the northerly part of the 

town; often shortened into Unquety. 
Waubansconceti — another word found in the original petition for the 

grant of the town, and used in connection with the territory of the 

neighborhood. 



59 
List of Towns 

established in the two Colonies, before the township of Groton was 
granted in 1655, together with the year when they are first mentioned 
in the records of the General Court. 

PLYMOUTH COLONY. 



I 


1620 


Plymouth 


7 


1639 


Taunton 


2 


* 6 33 


Scituate 


8 


1641 


Marshfield 


3 


1637 


Duxbury 


9 


1643 


Eastham 


4 


1638 


Barnstable 


10 


1645 


Rehoboth 


5 




Sandwich 


11 


1652 


Dartmouth 


6 


1639 


Yarmouth 












MASSACHUSETTS-BAY 


COLONY. 


1 


1630 


Charlestown 


19 


1640 


Braintree 


2 




Salem 


20 


" 


Salisbury 


3 




Boston 


21 


1641 


Haverhill 


4 




Dorchester 


22 


" 


Springfield 


5 




Watertown 


23 


1642 


Gloucester 


6 




Medford 


24 


" 


Woburn 


7 




Roxbury 


25 


1643 


Wenham 


8 


1631 


Lynn 


26 


1644 


Hull 


9 


it 


Cambridge 


27 


" 


Reading 


10 


i 6 33 


Marblehead 


28 


1645 


Manchester 


11 


1634 


Ipswich 


29 


1646 


Andover 


12 


1635 


Newbury 


30 


1648 


Topsfield 


13 


" 


Hingham 


3 1 


1649 


Maiden 


14 


" 


Weymouth 


32 


1650 


Medfield 


15 


" 


Concord 


33 


1653 


Lancaster 


16 


1636 


Dedham 


34 May, 1655 


Groton 


17 


l6 39 


Rowley 


35 


" " 


Billerica 


18 


t ( 


Sudbury 


36 


CI ti 


Chelmsford 



Trees from England. 

Last September I wrote to the Reverend John W. Way- 
man, rector of the Groton Parish in England, and through 
his courtesy I procured several young elms and some acorns 
and beechnuts from the mother town. During the winter 
Professor Charles S. Sargent, who is at the head of the 
Arnold Arboretum in Jamaica Plain, kindly took charge of 
the trees ; and he also planted the acorns and nuts which 
came up in the spring. These trees and saplings have been 
set out temporar ily on my land, and in due time, when of 
suitable size, they will be transplanted in some public place. 
It is hoped that they will foster and keep alive an interest 



6o 



between the two towns which are connected by sentiment, 
though separated in age by centuries of time and in distance 
by thousands of miles. 




First Parish Meeting-house. 



This cut was taken from a drawing made in the year 1838 
by John Warner Barber, and originally appeared in his His- 
torical Collections of Massachusetts (Worcester, 1839). It 
represents the First Parish Meeting-house before it w r as re- 
modelled in 1S39, when it was partially turned round, and 
the north end made the front, facing the west. The Academy 
building on the right of the Meeting-house, was enlarged in 
the autumn of 1846, and afterward burned on July 4, 1868. 
The fence now around the Common in front of the Meeting- 
house was built in the autumn of 1842, the last post being 
placed at the northwest corner on October 3 of that year. 
The trees within the enclosure were set out about the same 
time, excepting the row of elms along Main Street, w T hich 
were transplanted in 1828. 




FIRST PARISH CHURCH, 1905. 



6i 

It is manifest that we are all agreed that another important 
chapter has been added to the records of the Town of Groton. 
And this exercise is ended. The next exercise is the dinner, 
but that, I am informed, will not take place until one o'clock. 
It is some time between now and then, and I am told that the 
First Parish Church is open. It is a very interesting struc- 
ture. Also the Public Library where there is an interesting 
exhibition of historical articles. And the house of Mrs. 
Ward Dix, one of the old houses of the town, through her 
kindness, is open to the public, where some very interesting 
things which once belonged to General Ward are to be seen. 



PRAYER BY REV. BYRON F. GUSTIN. 



We thank Thee for these occasions when Thy people can 
meet, and thus gather to do honor to a noble past, and do 
honor to the men and women that made that past .possible, 
and a bright and beautiful future, too. We pray Thee that 
this love for town and home may be extended so that the 
nation itself may be honored, and this nation become a nation 
worthy of imitation by the world. Wilt Thou graciously 
bless these Thy gifts and all other temporal gifts to the use 
of man and to Thy holy service, and strengthen Thy chil- 
dren here gathered. 



REMARKS 

BY 

GENERAL WILLIAM A. BANCROFT. 



The Town of Groton, like a gracious matron, in holiday 
attire, her face radiant with the smile of welcome, not all re- 
gretful of her age; on the contrary, rather proud of it as she 
contemplates her numerous and vigorous daughters, the eld- 
est of whom have the charms of a hundred and thirty years, 
and the youngest of whom, has the air (Ayer) of more than 
thirty-four years, extends cordial greetings to all whom 
she has asked to join in her birth year, and settles herself 
with motherly composure to listen to the pleasant things 
they may have to say of her, or of — themselves, speak- 
ing, as I am admonished that they will, with that soulful 
brevity which men of wit always command, and with that 
consideration for the listener which youth show T s when it ad- 
dresses age. 

Fifty years ago the illustrious man who presided at the 
two hundredth anniversary of the town, and who would have 
presided again today, had a few more months of life been 
vouchsafed to him, after adverting to the early struggles, 
and to the important episodes in the history of the Com- 
munity, spoke as follows : 

"But it will be a sad perversion of the proper objects of 
this day, if we devote ourselves exclusively to joyous festiv- 
ity, or even to calm reflections upon the Past. 



6 4 

The Present should use the Past as a guide to the Future, — 
\ve pass from one century to another at a period of unex- 
ampled prosperity. This prosperity is attended by corre- 
sponding dangers. If our career thus far has been illustrated 
by instances of individual virtue, of devotion to duty, of sac- 
rifices in the cause of freedom, of valor in war and charity in 
peace, of liberality in the cause of learning, of sincerity and 
ardor tempered with meekness in the cause of religious 
liberty and truth, then there are so many examples that we 
are to imitate and if possible to excel." 

Since these words were spoken what momentous issues 
have been decided! What great crises have been passed; 
and with what a continuance of unexampled prosperity has 
the country been blessed ! And this unexampled prosperity 
has had indeed its corresponding dangers. Within six short 
years the country was plunged in the terrible throes of a civil 
war, unparelleled in modern times, and then surely were 
needed "virtue" and "devotion" and "sacrifices" and 
"valor" and "liberality." 

Who shall say that the examples of which Governor Bout- 
well spoke have not been imitated, perhaps excelled? Meas- 
ured by conspicuous virtue and devotion to duty in public 
affairs, his own honorable career makes conclusive answer 
for the individual; and he did not stand alone. 

America which gave the world a Washington in the Eigh- 
teenth Century, gave it a L,incoln in the Nineteenth. 

Measured by the Country's previous standard of achieve- 
ment, these fifty years will not be overlooked. The govern- 
mental methods established by the fathers in this country of 
vast resources have made possible the accumulation of great 
material wealth. It is the fashion in some quarters to regard 
the accumulation of wealth as an evil. It is not, however, 
from the accumulation of wealth that a community will suf- 
fer, but rather from the abuse of the power that wealth be- 
stows. 

To create saner conditions for a community, the accumu- 
lation of wealth is essential. Public and private institutions 
whose purpose it is to point out methods of physical well be- 



65 

ing, moral advancement, and spiritual uplifting all need 
wealth to support them. It is only a wealth}- community 
that can afford to maintain institutions of study and research. 
From such institutions result saner laws, saner morals, and 
.saner religions. 

A community all of whose members are engaged constantly 
in a struggle for physical existence cannot advance either 
physically, morally, or spiritually. Such, however, has not 
been our fortune. 

Through the prescient wisdom of our fathers, were laid the 
foundations which have made possible our present happy 
conditions. In the main, the wealth of our Country has been 
devoted to righteousness. The many useful creations of 
modern life; the countless institutions, both public and pri- 
vate, devoted to learning, to benevolence, and to religion, 
for the benefit of mankind, has been the result of accumu- 
lation. 

Higher standards of living have come, and with material 
wealth have come the refinements of life, not only to the very 
wealthy, but to those of smaller means. Wealth has made 
possible the great inventions which have blessed mankind in 
so many ways, and wealth has made possible the great intel- 
lectual and moral awakenings which have raised the average 
of individual character. 

Wealth means civilization instead of savagery. It means 
progress instead of stagnation. It means order instead of 
anarchy. Wealth is a blessing. Poverty is a curse. And 
yet there is abroad a spirit, which, regardless of our history 
and of the experience of mankind, would overthrow the 
established principles of society and change our conception 
of government. The New England ideal was independence. 
The other notion is dependence. The immigrant whose 
enterprise we commemorate, in worldly affairs at least, be- 
lieved in individual freedom to the very uttermost, and 
to the very uttermost he was willing to strive, knowing that 
the result of his striving, except in so far as society needed 
its share, was his own. No hardship, no peril, no adversity, 
diverted or discouraged him. Toil was his instrument. 



66 

Fatigue and danger were necessary incidents. His pride 
was to support himself. His shame was through fault of his 
own to be supported by others. He was thrifty, saving., 
"'close" if you please. To be so was virtuous, and thus he 
was independent. Nevertheless he was public spirited where 
the Commonwealth was concerned and he gave to the extent 
of his ability, even life itself. Self-reliant, resourceful, am- 
bitious, persevering, enterprising and successful, he repre- 
sents the spirit which has built the republic. Undoubtedly 
there are evils incident to the conditions he has created, but 
the cure he has provided to be administered. If there are 
foolish or unscrupulous men who have come into control of. 
great wealth, their folly or their iniquity may be stopped 
without changing the plan of society. It is a barbarous doc- 
trine which kills the patient to cure the disease. Bnt what is 
proposed? A system which provides that the invidual shall 
have, not what he is able through industry and self-denial to 
create, but what it is said vaguely his needs recpuire, as oth- 
ers may determine. 

By taking away the inducement to human effort, it is ex- 
pected that the sum of human happiness will be increased. 
The industrious, the courageous, and the efficient are to get 
more than the idle, the cowardly and the inefficient. The 
services of Daniel Webster would command no more than his 
office boy's. President Eliot would get no more than a col- 
lege janitor ; and the inventor of the telephone or of the air 
brake would get nothing for his invention. 

Such a scheme will not answer the constitution of human 
nature. It will fail, but before it fails, much mischief may 
be done. Demagogues and self seekers will mislead with 
their sophistries the vicious, the lazy and the unfortunate. 
Well meaning men seeking to remedy injustices which can be 
dealt with otherwise, or seeking to change conditions which 
cannot be changed, will urge an abandonment of the methods 
of our fathers, and will make some trouble. The thought- 
less will find it easy to assail large aggregations of wealth, 
whether in corporate or individual holdings ; but when the 
man who has saved a hundred dollars or more, finds it to be 



6? 

ra part of the plan, as it surely must be, that he is to give up 
his hard earned savings, then there will be $ reaction. 
Moreover, intelligent youth will rebel at a system which de- 
stroys all hope of self-betterment, — one of the most powerful 
stimulants of human action. Great organizations will resist; 
among them the patriotic societies, which will not surrender 
tamely the heritage for which their fathers fought; the trade- 
unions when their eyes are opened to the machinations of the 
agitators who are endeavoring to exploit them; the fraternal 
orders whose watchword is "thrift;" and many, if not most, 
of the great churches. In the meantime, through insidious 
forms, such as the municipalization of so-called public utili- 
ties, and by the constant advocacy of impracticable theorists 
who are to be found in all vocations, gains are being made. 

In Europe where this movement against wealth is much 
older and more insolent than it is here, it has assailed like- 
wise the fundamental institution of marriage upon which the 
existence of the sanctity of the family and indeed our entire 
moral code depends; it has assailed religion, without which 
the peoples would drift as aimlessly as a ship without a com- 
pass; and it has assailed the idea of nationality from which 
patriotism springs. It is only a question of time when the 
same things will be assailed in this country. 

Today there is danger, too, as there was fifty years ago, 
and as there will be fifty years hence. Every period has its 
dangers, for such is life; but today the danger is not of the 
savage Indian nor of civil war. Today the danger is 
that a doctrine which undermines the very foundation of 
society, which disregards the teachings of the past, which de- 
rides New England and the New England town, which mis- 
conceives human nature, which would thwart human aspir- 
ations and would destroy human progress — today the danger 
is that this pernicious doctrine will be adopted. The New 
Englander — the American — must choose. Do we meet to 
reaffirm the principles of our fathers and to follow their foot- 
steps in the path of human advance, or do we acknowledge 
that for two hundred and fifty years we and those we vener- 
ate have been deluded by a misconception? Do we move 



6S 

forward or backward? Here is a chance for courage no less 
than was his who braved a savage foe; or than was his who 
bared his breast to the bayonets of rebellion. Et will not be 
popular to oppose this new doctrine, but opposition must be 
made. Scattered now through the length and breadth of 
our country, shall the successors of our progenitors, the 
hardy frontiersmen of this and many an other New England 
town be recreant ? 

In the sky of our Country's glory we read the names of the 
shadowy hosts that beckons us on, — statesmen and soldiers 
and orators and poets — but patriots all. We seem to hear 
their harmonious voices like a strain of lofty music, as they 
call upon us to do our duty, and with reverent hearts, trust- 
ing in Him before whom the glory of the kings of this world 
passes away like a tale that is told, we respond to the inspir- 
ing summons, resolve to transmit to our children, and we 
hope to our children's children, even to the latest generation, 
our heritage of American citizenship, unrestricted by folly 
and unimpaired by hatred. 



6 9 

HON. GEORGE A. MARDEN. 



Among the distinctions which Groton possesses is the cir- 
cumstance that two presidents of the United States have tar- 
ried within its borders. I am quite sure, however, that 
neither could have continued to interest a Groton audience 
as he whom I am to ask to speak. 

Many years ago, I think perhaps the Civil War in which 
he took part as an officer in the Union Army, had been 
fought, I heard him in the Town Hall for the first time ; al- 
though I feel certain that it was not the first time that oth- 
ers had heard him here. Many times since then he has 
spoken acceptably to Groton audiences, and his speech will 
be heard today with as much interest as it will be read fifty 
years from now at the three hundredth anniversary. 

In his long and useful public career the only mistake I 
ever heard that he has made was when Speaker of the Massa- 
chusetts House twenty years ago, he appointed me Chairman 
of the Committee on Military Affairs. For this I hope he 
has not suffered unduly. He represents the government of 
the United States, but everything that he says may not relate 
to that subject. I present Assistant United States Treasurer, 

HON. GEO. A. MARDEN OF UOWEUU- 

Man is an animal. I am a vice-president of the Society 
for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. I heard General 
Bancroft, a few minutes ago, speaking to one of the battery 
of orators which he has a list of, who asked him how long 
this thing will be kept up, and he said, "It will depend on 
you orators." I do not propose it shall be kept up unduly 
on my account. 

I did make (not then "Major General") Bancroft Chair- 
man on Military Affairs, but I had a purpose in it, and I 
have seen the result of that appointment. Whether he has 
been inoculated, by his patriotic associations, with a recur- 



JO 

rence of the fear, of the urgent fear, of the Groton people, of 
an attack by the Indians, I don't know; but he has fortified 
your Main street. And he is building, I understand, as a 
simple soldier might, a very plain set of barracks somewhere 
back in the woods. When we get so fortunate as to be at the 
head of the Elevated Railway, we will fortify all our towns, 
and build our barracks, and pay dividends, and accommo- 
date the people. 

I never saw so large an audience in so melting a mood 
when I began with them. I have learned a new recipe to- 
day, which is to serve your potato salad, and 3-our corned 
beef, and your baked beans with melted butter. This is a 
part of my remarks which does not relate to the "national 
government." 

When the General read the list of the distinguished men 
who have served the public, and who are natives of Groton, 
modesty incomprehensible forbade him to speak of a certain 
Major-General, the only one on the list, but as he read the 
list, — presidents, senators, members of congress, members of 
the cabinet, — as he came to each class, I said to myself, 
George S. Boutwell; but he tells me that he didn't need to 
take Ex-Governor Boutwell as the sole representative of an)- 
class, because these distinguished men have hunted in cou- 
ples and in triplets as well. 

Groton, — let me come to the words of my text, — "Groton 
as related to the Nation." The most obvious remark is that 
but for Groton we wouldn't have any nation. The General 
has spoken of the early patriots who settled in New Eng- 
land. We have the pilgrims of Plymouth and the puritans 
of Boston, and they spread out over this way into Middlesex 
County, and Massachusetts was the result. New England 
followed Massachusetts, and the nation followed New Eng- 
land. And you in Groton not only have welcomed the presi- 
dents, two of the chief magistrates of America, but you have 
started an institution which shall educate boys for future 
presidential chairs. 

Groton, — I have come to the cattle shows of Groton man}- 
times. Two hundred and fifty years have done much for an 



7i 

old town like this, but the old town, two hundred and fifty 
years old, has done for the country, which for the moment I 
am honored to represent, what no other town in New Eng- 
land has done. The cavaliers of Virginia and of Maryland, 
and the Dutchmen of Manhattan Island have done their part, 
but except for New England where would we be today? We 
were told in the address of Dr. Green that Groton's future 
depended at one time on three immigrants from Chelmsford 
who, by permission of the church, were allowed to come here. 
What would Groton have been but for the decision of those 
who surrounded her? 

Three towns, he told us, had their two hundred and fiftieth 
anniversary this year, — Billerica and Chelmsford and Gro- 
ton. Ah, but Billerica! poor old Billerica! of whom I am 
ashamed — because a lineal ancestor of mine came from 
Billerica. She has failed to appreciate the advantages of a 
record, and she has left it for the anniversary fifty years 
hence, to take hold and make up the loss and disgrace of her 
indifference, this year. 

Here is a battery of oratory to come after. The General is 
polite. He was very modest in intimating that the speakers 
ought to be brief. Let me say that I have given them an ex- 
ample. I had sixty rounds of cartridges in my belt, and I 
have fired but twenty. 



GOVERNOR GUILD. 



The people of this town are under great obligation to the 
Lieutenant Governor, who at no small inconvenience to him- 
self, has come here not only to bring the greetings of the 
Commonwealth, but to delight us by his own attractive pres- 
ence and his felicitous speech. Massachusetts is fortunate 
in counting him among her honored sons, and I suppose it 
will not transgress the proprieties of the occasion, if I men- 
tion that he is exposed to the bestowal of still further honors. 



72 

If the manifest desire of a great political party is recognized 
at the polls, our state will have next }'ear another excellent 
Chief Magistrate. I have much gratification in presenting 
to you a public-spirited citizen, a patriotic soldier, a capable 
public servant, a consummate orator, His Honor, the Lieu- 
tenant Governor, 

GENERAL CURTIS GUILD, JR. 

Mr. Toastmaster, Ladies a?id Gentlemen : I thank you, sir, 
for your very kind reference, and you for your very agreeable 
reception. We will let the future take care of itself, sir. 
At present it is my privilege and extremely pleasant duty to 
present to you the greetings of the present chief magistrate 
of Massachusetts, — a conscientious, clean, upright public 
servant, justly honored by the people,- — William L. Douglas, 
Governor of Massachusetts. 

In looking over the proceedings of the last celebration of 
Groton, on the train, on the way to this tent, for that is all 
the preparation I have been able to make, I observed that 
fifty years ago the toast of the Commonwealth of Massachu- 
setts was supposed to be fittingly responded to by a combina- 
tion of hot air and brass. It was responded to by the band. 
On this occasion, you furnish the hot air, and if I should ac- 
cept too many prophesies, I am sure you would think I was 
furnishing the brass. 

The first guide book of New England, Wood's New Eng- 
land, published but a short time after the arrival of the New 
England settlers and citizens that marched into the interior, 
speaks of the great danger on account of the vast numbers 
of lions in the frontier settlements. Groton was one of these 
towns. In a foot note he adds, honestly enough, "I have 
not seen any of these lions myself, but there proceed at night 
times such dreadful roarings that there must be either lions 
or devils." The devils are not present today, but rather 
their opposite in the pleasant presence of the opposite sex, 
who represent angels rather than devils. But the good old 
coasts of Wood's time are represented, for if there are not 



73 

lions here, what have we here in the front row of this table 
today ? 

At the late visit of the President of the United States to 
Massachusetts, he brought a new story (at least, new to me) 
from the west, speaking of the care that fellow men should 
show for one another. A new mine was being opened in 
Arizona, and over the main shaft, which was some sixty feet 
deep and without any railing, with the old fashioned wind- 
up, truck, and windlass, the thoughtful owners of the mine 
had put up the inscription, " Please do not fall into this hole ; 
there are men working below." I do not propose to fall into 
a hole myself today, because I find that there are nine men 
whose names occur below mine, and I am sure you will greet 
the nine with three times three. 

But if I must give one serious word for the good old Com- 
monwealth that we all honor, let me say something in regard 
to the one product of Groton which remains steadfast in the 
light of the world. I mean the old fashioned education. 
Beneath the eaves of the Public Library in Boston, there 
runs this inscription, "The Commonwealth demands the ed- 
ucation of her citizens as the safeguard of order and liberty." 
But education cannot be the safeguard of order and liberty if 
the educated man neglects to use his education for the benefit 
of the commonwealth. And education cannot be the safeguard 
of order and liberty if it is merely that technical education 
which, as the late William E. Russell said, " may teach a 
man to make a living, but which does not teach a man to 
make a life." That old fashioned education, with something 
of philosophy and more of history, and something of the class- 
ical languages in it, was taught from time immemorial here 
in the old schools, and later in the Lawrence Academy, and 
now in the splendid new Groton School. It seems to me that 
if our Commonwealth is to hold her head high, as she does 
today, as she has from the beginning, that we cannot afford 
altogether to abandon that old fashioned education. It is a 
magnificent thing for us to be able to boast that whereas, ten 
years ago, when the builders of battleships sought their 
models, they had to go to Paris or England for a school of 



74 

naval architecture, today, the first school of naval architec- 
ture in the world is the Massachusetts Institute of Tech- 
nology. It is a superb thing for us to be able to boast that, 
if twenty years ago our physicians and surgeons were obliged 
to go abroad to complete their education, today the best 
medical schools in the world are within the Commonwealth 
of Massachusetts. But it is an infinitely better thing to 
think of that a leader of the United States that leads his 
party, and represents liberality, breadth, progress, and the 
bursting of the old shackles, may owe his birth to New York, 
and his parentage to different races, but he owes the educa- 
tion that inspired his toils to the education of Massachusetts. 
And so, in that spirit, I venture to say just one word, not 
against technical education, — even let us encourage it — but 
against the utter abandonment of the education in history, in 
philosophy, in poetry, in literature, that shall turn out a 
man a mere part of an industrial machine. If in war, as has 
been proved, the best soldier is the man with some power 
of initiative, so it is true in peace that the best citizen is the 
man who is not merely a money making cog in a mere in- 
dustrial machine. The danger of which you speak, sir, and 
it is a real danger, is much less if, not this man or that man, 
but all the people have a knowledge of history, and of the 
examples that have gone before. If, when the demagogic 
machinist, with his speech that appeals so to the ears of an 
uninformed man, speaks to an audience that has already 
heard similar words that were spoken in France by Robes- 
pierre, that have been spoken before in this country, and 
that struck down the splendid structure that was raised by 
the patriotism of our forefathers. 

Not that we should neglect technical education, but we 
should not confine our education to it. The mere skillful 
machinist may become a burglar. The skilled chemist who 
is that and nothing else may become a counterfeiter. The 
skilled accountant who is that and nothing more may let his 
knowledge find its scope in embezzling. It isn't merely ne- 
cessary that we should build up skilled artisans to add to the 
wealth of Massachusetts, but that, by education of the old 



75 

sort, we should build up sound citizens to lift up the citizen- 
ship of Massachusetts. With the basis of character, we can 
safely build the other form of education. Our industries 
are threatened by child labor in Georgia, and by yellow labor 
in the steam cotton mills in Japan. We will seek to make 
our labor even more skilled, but if we keep our character 
true as well, we may always answer in the future to any 
boast of any contesting state or section of country as the 
Governor of Massachusetts, not born in Massachusetts, for- 
eign born citizen, one of the truest Americans that ever lived, 
Frederick T. Greenhalge, Governor of Massachusetts, — as 
he answered the boast of the Governor of Georgia. The 
Governor of that state threatened that ultimately they would 
take away all the industries of New England. I can see 
Governor Greenhalge now, standing in the midst of that 
southern exposition, under that hot Georgia sun, answering 
Governor Atkinson: " We congratulate you on your pros- 
perity. We wouldn't take from it a single tithe. Every bar 
of iron that drops from a southern forge, every reel of yarn 
that falls from a southern spindle adds but another link in the 
chain that binds the north and south together in a common 
country. Spin your yarn if you will, you must send it to the 
north to be woven. Weave your cloth if you will, you must 
send it to Massachusetts to be finished and dyed. Finish 
and dye it if you will, you must come to Massachusetts for 
your machinery with which to make it. Build your machin- 
ery if you will, you must still come to Massachusetts for edu- 
cated Yankee boys with Yankee brains to officer your in- 
dustries." 



BISHOP WILLIAM LAWRENCE. 

I might tell you of a worthy family whose representatives 
have had habitations here almost from the beginnings — to 
the story of whose services to municipality, to state and to 
country, in public and private relation, in its last four gen- 
erations, it would be profitable to listen for a longer period 



7 6 

than we shall have remained under this shelter; but I am in- 
stead to read a letter from a member of that family whom the 
community has had ample reason to honor, without in the 
least drawing upon the claims of his distinguished ancestors 
or relatives, the Right Reverend, the Bishop of Massachusett, 

DOCTOR WILLIAM LAWRENCE. 

Bar Harbor, Me., July 4, 1905. 
My Dear General Bancroft : 

It is a source of real regret to me that I cannot be present 
at the 250th anniversary of the founding of Groton, but hav- 
ing once gotten away from official engagements I find it 
necessary, if I am to get a rest, to stay away for awhile. 

With the scenes and the people of Groton are bound up 
many of my happiest memories and associations. I can re- 
call how, as a small boy, we used to walk across the meadow 
road to Church, and the ringing of the bells gave forth 
sweeter sounds than any city bells. The thrills ran down 
my back as the bass in the quartet thundered out his note. 

My Aunt Woodbury's old horse, Doctor, used to drop her 
at the old Meeting House and make his way around to the 
shed. Then at the singing of the Doxology he backed out 
and drove around to the front porch to take her home. Some 
of the people used to bring their noonday lunch and be ready 
for the second service. 

The handsome face and kind heart of Aunt Eliza Green are 
no doubt, familiar to some of the older inhabitants, and the 
smell of her pies still seems to linger about the house as I 
pass it on my visits to Groton. 

I even go as far back as Peter Hazard, the old negro; and 
I remember with a shudder how his old wife pulled a black 
pipe out of her mouth and gave me a kiss. 

Farmers' Row, with its unsurpassed view across the Nashua 
Valley, even with its many changes, still remains beautiful. 

Lawrence Academy has done, and is doing, its noble work. 
If the architects of a generation ago had been wise enough, 
or the towns-people had been smart enough, to compel them 



77 

to adopt the simple colonial style in the erection of the Law- 
rence Academy, how much more beautiful the town would 
.be. In the last twenty-five years the town has steadily im- 
proved in appearance. In fact, if I might make a sugges- 
tion, how much more beautiful the town may be ii every 
citizen would do his part toward making his paths, his barn 
and shed as neat, simple and attractive as possible. It is 
not so much a question of money as of a desire to put a little 
thought and work into village improvements. When Mr. 
Bryce was here a few months ago the first question he asked 
me was whether I could give him the constitution of a vil- 
lage improvement society, for he had seen so much of it in this 
country that he wished to organize the movement in Scot- 
land, whose hamlets are bare, hard and ugly. Thus the in- 
fluence of America spreads even from the smallest villages. 

Groton has a histor\ r so great that it should stand to all 
who pass through it as a model Massachusetts village. 
Grateful for what the men and women of Groton have done 
in the past we should do our part toward the town, the 
Church and the nation in the future. 

I remain, with kind regards, 

Yours sincerely, 
(Signed) William Lawrence. 



CONGRESSMAN TIRRELL. 

It would have been regrettable, indeed, if this commemor- 
ative gathering had not been graced by the presence of the 
representative of the Congressional District of which this 
town is a part. Almost at any time during the last century 
had our honored guest been in the House he would have 
found there as an associate a Groton man, either a native or 
a resident, and sometimes he would have found more than 
one, for, as I mentioned this morning, the town has had at 
least eleven congressmen. I presume our distinguished 
friend is of the opinion that Groton has had its share, and 
having supplied so large a part of the membership of Con- 



78 

gress during the nineteenth century, some other town — 
Natick for instance — might be intrusted to contribute mem- 
bership during the twentieth century. He comes from a 
town of much historic interest; but though the town still 
retains the Indian name, the Indians have long since de- 
parted. In this part of the country they are rarely to be 
found except in large cities, where it is current knowledge 
that they are used only for political adversaries or for tobac- 
conists' signs. While I do not suppose that our able and 
genial Congressman would arrogate to himself the mantle of 
John Eliot, the Apostle of the Indians, yet I can testify that 
in the cause of temperance and good citizenship, he has 
proved himself an excellent disciple of that worthy. 

Ladies and gentlemen, I present our Congressman, the 

HONORABLE CHARLES Q. TIRRELL. 

Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : I am sure that if a 
stranger from a distance ventured into the town of Groton 
today, and saw the bright and expectant faces upon 
your Main Street, which has been so thronged, he could with 
difficulty determine whether this was an old home week 
gathering, or whether it was in commemoration of some one 
of the many interesting events for which this town has been 
distinguished in its long and eventful history. But I am 
sure that he would agree with the man who was invited to a 
distant mansion in the country, not aware of the object for 
which he was invited. It seems it was a funeral occasion. 
He arrived very late. The ceremony was over. They had 
all gathered together at the dining table, and, as it was in 
anti-temperance days, the guests became somewhat exhilar- 
ated, and, finally, rising with unsteady feet, with glass in 
hand, he said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, I propose a toast to 
the bride and bridegroom." Thereupon, a friend attempted 
to put him right by saying, "Sit down, man; this isn't a 
wedding, this is a funeral." He said, "I don't care what it 
is, I know one thing, it is a grand success." I am sure those 
of us who are not natives can say that of this celebration. 



79 

I have always been interested in colonial matters, perhaps 
because I was brought up in an old colonial town. My 
father's ancestors were of the town of Weymouth. It was 
settled in 1622, and incorporated in 1636. In another respect 
it also has a little advantage over Groton. Whereas in 1676, 
when King Philip swept like a besom of destruction through 
this part of the province, and laid forty of your homesteads 
in ashes, in 1622, when the Indians of Weymouth gathered 
together into a conspiracy to exterminate our settlers Miles 
Standish was informed, and he with eight of his warriors 
marched up through the woods of Marshfield and Scituate 
and massacred them all. No trace of Indians has been found 
in that ancient town since that time. 

I do not propose to touch upon any of the matters in refer- 
ence to ancient history^ which have been already presented to 
you by the orator of the occasion and by those who have ad- 
dressed you. I do not even propose to speak upon educa- 
tion generally. But there is one line of education not 
touched upon by the Lieutenant-Governor or by any of the 
speakers, which is applicable to this occasion. Why is it 
that the leaders in business and professional life, those en- 
titled to take front rank not only in industrial matters but in 
national pursuits as well, are those who have been educated 
in just such towns as these? What is the subtle influence 
which such a town has upon the human mind? Why does it 
develop all the characteristics which tend to make a man 
great among his fellow creatures? Here is a young man 
born far away from the madding crowd. 

The old homestead is overshadowed by a lofty mountain. 
Here at its base he plays in childhood, sometimes climbing 
its almost inaccessable heights until he stands upon its 
snowy summit. From the foot of the mountain the daisied 
meadow stretches far beyond to a brook dashing down from 
the mountain's side flows onward to the sea. Here also he 
plays and fishes and whiles away the hours. At last early 
manhood is obtained. It is lonely at the old homestead. 
There are no companions to cheer him. He longs for an ac- 
tive life. He is ready for life's battles. So he leaves his 



8c? 

woiiie for the distant city. There he struggles working his 
way up, rung by rung v until his object is secured. Then old 
and gray headed he revisits the old homestead. For the 
first time he realizes the debt he owes to his native town. 
His steadfastness of purpose, his patriotic impulses, his. 
avoidance of evil, his honesty, his integrity, all that com- 
bined to make him an honorable, upright and respected citi- 
zen, was moulded there amid those mighty hills. 

So it is to those of you who perhaps after many wanderings 
have returned once again to Groton, your native town. Here 
you were educated. Here you spent your youthful days, 
here you got the education which has made you, largely, 
what you are; education which differs according to the tem- 
perament and the susceptibility of each individual person. 
But such as you are, and the honorable career which you 
have attained, is largely owing to this indefinable education 
which the old town has given you. 

I was much interested in the record given by General Ban- 
croft, the long list, the innumerable list almost, of Groton 
people who became distinguished and rendered service to 
their country. When he came to the eleven congressmen, 
he looked at me and stopped. He had just reached the point 
where if he had continued he must have given the fact that 
you elected here in the town of Groton Col. William Lawrence 
as 3*our Representative to the State Legislature for seventeen 
times, and then you elected the Hon. Mr. Prescott for fifteen 
times in succession, and then later on, I don't know for how 
many years, the Hon. George S. Boutwell. Think what the 
General might have done for me if he had only stated those 
facts. 

But I must not detain you longer, delightful as it would 
be. I congratulate this town, so memorable in its history, 
for a record which cannot be excelled if equalled among the 
old colonial towns of the Commonwealth. 



8i 
DOCTOR GREEN. 

On this platform sits ray cousin, the venerable Zara Patch, 
a Vice President, who was one of the petitioners for the cele- 
bration fifty years ago. Last winter, at the age of ninety- 
two, he spurned my advice to use a cane when he walked 
upon the icy sidewalk. 

It is the fortune, however, of Dr. Green and that of only one 
other now living, Mr. John W. Parker, a Vice President, to 
have had any official part in the celebration of fifty years ago, 
and also, in that of today. Such a fortune can never be that of 
but few; although, speaking of this town, many of us were 
here fifty years ago. For one, however, I did not feel 
especially interested in what was then going on. 

We should like to have heard a word from the orator of 
the day. He knows the town from the "Throne" to the 
"Ridges" and from " Massapoag " to the river. He loves 
every foot of it. He loves its history. He loves its people, — 
and its people love him. 

He was by unanimous choice requested to represent the 
women of Groton. They have always been among the best 
in the world, and no one of all has been more beautiful, both 
in character and in person, than that same Eliza Green of 
whom Bishop L,awrence wrote, and whose son would have 
spoken to you. Doctor, Colonel, Mayor, Honorable, Histo- 
ian, Antiquarian, Genealogist, and many other things, a real 
Groton boy, — "Sam" Green. But the heat of the day, 
and the fatigue attendant upon his effort this forenoon, has 
deprived us of the pleasure which we should have felt in 
listening to him again this afternoon. 



HON. CHESTER W. CLARK. 

In the changes of time and political plan, the Councils 
which created this township have passed away, but in some 
sort the Great and General Court is their successor. So the 
town has asked its Representative in the upper branch of 
that renowned legislature to address the people of this 



82 

corporation. The town is old enough now to enable him to 
judge whether his predecessors acted wisely in allowing it to 
be settled. 

I have the honor to introduce the Hon. Chester W. Clark 
of the Sixth Middlesex Senatorial District. 

HON. CHESTER W. CLARK. 

Mr. President, Citizens of Groton, Ladies and Gentlemen : 

I am glad to have this opportunity of being present and 
enjoying with you the celebration of this most important 
epoch in the history of your beautiful town. Time passes 
swiftly; the lives of men soon vanish away; and even the 
quarter-millennium of a municipality, when it is passed, is 
but as a tale that is told. It is interesting and profitable to 
pause at the end of such periods of time and look back upon 
the dim and half forgotten years of its earliest history, and to 
discern the pathway by which it has arrived to its present 
state of prosperity and happiness. 

I understand that I am expected to say something about 
the General Court, and especially about the Senate. This is 
a subject befitting the occasion; for the very cause of our be- 
ing assembled here today was an act of incorporation passed 
by the General Court two hundred and fifty years ago. That 
incorporation was one result of the tremendous activity that 
characterized this part of the new world during the few years 
next succeeding the first settlements. 

What exhibitions of heroic toil and unyielding energy are 
disclosed as we bring those old days before the imagination 
and consider what was accomplished by only a few, unaided 
by the implements and machinery and motive power of later 
invention. 

Upon the arrival of Governor Winthrop and his company 
in 1630 there were only about two thousand persons in the 
territory now included in Massachusetts. Five years later 
their numbers had augmented to about four thousand. That 
was only twenty years prior to the settlement of Groton; and 
yet, before this town was incorporated, more than fifty others 



33 

had been established in Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay, 
comprising about forty thousand inhabitants. 

The harmony, order, and economy of means that made 
possible such wonderful achievements in two decades could 
not have been secured and preserved, even among a people 
as small in number as were they, without the control and 
direction of some form of government. And so that essential 
element of civilization was inaugurated at the very first, bear- 
ing the outward semblance and designation of the General 
Court, — an institution and a name that have come down from 
that remote origin to the present time. 

The charter of Charles the First provided that there should 
be a governor, a deputy governor, and eighteen assistants of 
the company, to be elected yearly by the freemen; that the 
governor or deputy and the assistants should hold a court 
periodically for directing their affairs; and that four times a 
year there should be held by the governor or deputy and as- 
sistants and all the freemen who might be present, a general 
assembly to be called the four Great and General Courts. 
There was then no rivalry, as there sometimes is at the pres- 
ent day, nor an}' caucuses, to determine who should be sent 
to the General Court; for every freeman had a right to go. 
In that respect it resembled a town meeting of the present 
day. The number of freemen in the colony grew gradually 
more numerous, so that it became impracticable for all of 
them to meet in General Court. Thereupon it was provided 
that each town might be represented by two or three dele- 
gates, or, if it chose, by all of its freemen in a body; and 
later it was decided that each town should send two delegates 
only. The similarity between the original and the present 
General Court now begins to appear. The first meeting of 
the General Court was held in October, 1630. 

The court held by the governor or deputy and the as- 
sistants was called the Court of Assistants. Its province 
was to sit in the interim between the sessions of the General 
Court ; and the latter might repeal any action previously taken 
by the former. To this Court of Assistants and to the General 
Court alike belonged all legislative, judicial, and executive 



8 4 

functions. From time to time thereafter certain of those 
powers were eliminated, so that at length the General Court 
possessed only the power of legislation, as it does toda}'. 
The foundation of our present General Court may therefore 
be said to date from 1630, for all its powers were then exer- 
cised, although in conjunction with others. It then exisited 
under the government of England; it now exists under the 
constitution of Massachusetts; but in point of historical suc- 
cession its life has been continuous. By including therein 
two classes, the governor and assistants forming one, and 
the freemen, the other, it was analogous to the form of our 
present legislature of representatives and senators but they 
sat together as one body. 

To a curious circumstance that happened very early, we 
may trace the separation of the two classes of legislators 
mentioned, which furnishes the historical basis for the forma- 
tion of our legislature into two branches. During that period 
all sorts of petty cases came before the General Court. At 
one of its sessions a case was brought by a Mrs. Sherman 
against Captain Keayne,to recover damages caused by a stray 
hog which had rooted up all the cabbages in the widow Sher- 
man's garden. After a protracted hearing, commensurate 
with the magnitude and importance of such a case, two as- 
sistants and fifteen freemen voted in favor of the widow, and 
seven assistants and eight freemen voted in favor of the hog. 
A majority of the whole, but not of each class, had thus vot- 
ed in favor of the widow. A point arose as to whether it was 
necessary that a majority of the assistants and of the freemen 
should concur, to enable the plaintiff to prevail. 

The question created great agitation and was warmly 
debated on either side. At length it was determined that a 
majority of each class was essential to any action, and such 
was thereafter required. The two classes continued to sit 
together, but each in a portion of the room by itself. In the 
course of time the}- came to occupy separate quarters. 
The custom of one body having a negative upon the other 
afterwards became embalmed in the constitution of our 
Commonwealth. 



35 

The sessions were opened at eight o'clock in the morning, 
and the assistants who were not then present were fined, not- 
withstanding there were no public conveyances, but each 
must travel on foot or on horseback to the square, homely, 
frame building which was the capitol. Now the sessions 
.never begin before half-past ten in the morning, and even 
.then many of the members are dilato^. 

As before stated, the General Court both made laws and 
.enforced them. It may not be uninteresting to notice some 
>of the peculiar enactments and judgments of those days. 

Sir Richard Saltonstall was one of the assistants and ap- 
parently a man of importance. He furnished considerable 
business for the General Court, as appears by these records; 

"Sir Richard Saltonstall is fined four bushels of malt for 
his absence from the court." 

"It is ordered that Richard Duffy, servant to Sir Richard 
Saltonstall, shall be whipped for his misdemeanors towards 
his master." 

"Sir Richard Saltonstall is fined 5 ,£ for whipping two 
persons without the presence of another assistant, contrary 
to an act of court formerly made." 

" Chickataubott is fined the skin of a bear for shooting a 
swine of Sir Richard Saltonstall's." 

It seems that the inhabitants coveted good society, for we 
find the following : 

"Mr. William Foster, appearing, was informed that we 
conceive him not fit to live with us ; wherefore he was wished 
to depart before the General Court in March next." 

It would seem that treason was allowed no breathing place 
in the colony. 

" It is ordered that Philip Ratcliffe shall be whipped, have 
his ears cut off, fined 5 £ and banished out of the limits of 
this jurisdiction for uttering malicious and scandalous 
speeches against the government and the church of Salem." 

The proximity of the Indians jeopardized the public safety 
and occasioned the following provisions: 

"It is ordered that there shall be a watch of four kept 
every night at Dorchester, and another at Watertown ; watches 



a& 



to begirt at strn-set ; and that if any person shall shoot off 
any piece after the watch is set he shall forfeit 40s or be 
whipped." 

We made paper money legal tender in war time, but even. 
that expedient was surpassed by the genius of the earliest 
settlers,, of which this evidence appears : 

" It is ordered that corn shall pass for payment of all debts at 
the usual rate it is sold for." 

In those days there were no political "fences " to be looked 
after, but concerning the other kind they enacted that, 

"The town of Hingham for not making sufficient fences is 
fined 5s and hath time to mend their fences until the fourth 
month." 

The inhabitants also looked well to their ways :. 

"The town of Boston for defect of their ways between. 
Powder Horn Hill and the written tree is fined 20s and en- 
joined to mend them." 

There are many humbug nostrums at the present day with 
which unscrupulous persons prey upon the public; but here 
is what happened in the olden time : 

" Nicholas Knapp is fined 5 £ for taking upon him to cure 
the scurvy b}^ water of no worth or value, which he sold at 
a very dear rate, to be imprisoned till he pay his fine, or else 
to be whipped." 

Another instance illustrates how trivial was some of the 
business; 

"Bartholomew Hill is adjudged to be whipped for stealing 
a loaf of bread from John Hoskins." 

Much of the time of the present General Court is consumed 
in the consideration of the so-called "labor bills," all which 
aim to limit the hours and to secure for the workmen a greater 
rate of compensation. In contrast to these, the labor bills 
that then came before the General Court tended to decrease 
rather than to enlarge the compensation, which fact is notice- 
able as indicating the change of conditions or sentiment that 
has taken place. These are samples of the former kind : 

" It is ordered that laborers shall not take above i2d a day 



S7 

for their work and not above 6d and meat and drink, un- 
der pain of ios." 

" It is ordered that sawyers shall not take above i2d a score 
for sawing oak boards, and iod a score for pine boards, if 
.the}' have their wood felled and squared for them." 

"It is ordered that no master carpenter, mason, joiner, or 
bricklayer shall take above i6d a day for their work if they 
have meat and drink; and the second sort not above i2d a 
■day under pain of ios both to giver and toreceiver." 

The punishment of death was inflicted for a variety of of- 
iences, some of which would not be considered of very great 
magnitude in our time. The town of Groton was incorpor- 
ated at the session of the General Court held in March, 1655. 
At the same session the following act was passed; 

" In answer to the petition of Edward Sanders, craving the 
favor of this court of the leaving off from his neck his sen- 
tenced halter, the court, having received some testimony of 
some good effect his punishment hath produced, do grant 
his request." 

I must not dwell longer on the quaint and curious doings 
of bygone daj^s. 

That the division of the legislature into two branches is a 
wise safeguard against hasty action is being constantly dem- 
onstrated. The senate has been facetiously styled ' ' the grave- 
yard of legislation." During the last winter more than 
twenty bills which passed the House were buried in the Sen- 
ate beyond hope of resurrection. In most of those cases the 
measures would have passed by a majority if the House and 
Senate had voted unitedly as one body. The Senate obvi- 
ously believed them to be unwise measures. If there was 
any doubt, it was better to err on the side of conservatism 
than on the side of new and untried statutes. There is more 
danger of too much legislation than of too little. The effect 
of the operation of a particular law cannot always be foreseen; 
and moderation in respect to changes is to be commended. 
It is often "better to bear the ills we have than fly to those 
we know not of." 



88 

The men who compose the General Court in colonial times 
were possessed of strong characters:, but their knowledge 
and experience were very limited. They would have been, 
incompetent to have dealt with questions of the magnitude and 
complexity of those which now engage the attention ©£ the: 
General Court. With the development of time there has 
come, a broadening of the minds of men, but the virtues of 
those old characters may well be imitated and perpetuated. 

It has been said by critics from, abroad that the legislature 
of this Commonwealth is superior — in the character andjn- 
telligence of its members * the order and decorum of its ses- 
sions, and the seriousness with which it undertakes the 
transaction of business. Let us hope that this high standard, 
may be maintained, 

Groton has furnished a legislator of especial worth in the 
eminent statesman whose life-work has recently ended. It 
is a signal honor to this town to have been the dwelling place 
of one who was a tower of strength to the Nation and the 
Commonwealth. The exemplary career of Governor Bout- 
well will always summon to noble action those who under- 
take the service of the public. We may justly point to him 
as the embodiment of our highest ideals. 

"What constitutes a state? 
Not high raised battlement or labored mound, 

Thick walls of moated gate ; 
Not cities proud with spires and turrets crowned ; 

Not bays and broad-armed ports 
Where, laughing at the storms, rich navies ride; 

Not starred and spangled courts 
Where low-browed baseness wafts perfume to pride. 

No! Men, high-minded men. 



Men who their duties know, 
But know their rights, and, knowing, dare maintain; 

Prevent the long-aimed blow, 
And crush the tyrant while they rend the chain. 

These constitute a state." 



s 9 

HON. CHARLES S. HAMLIN. 

We are favored with the presence of a distinguished guest 
who, though not himself a native or a resident of the town, 
has reason to ieel a strong attachment to it from the circum- 
stance that his family once lived in that part of it which is now 
the sightly town of Westford. He very willingly responded to 
the Committee's invitation to join in this observance, and 
has given gratification by so doing. An eminent publicist, a 
profound student of our Country's concerns, who has served 
with credit in high official station. I present to you the 

HONORABLE CHARLES S. HAMLIN. 

Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : It is a very great 
pleasure to me to be able to be here today, and to take part 
in these memorable festivities. In this connection, let me 
say that my brother told me yesterday that he was sitting in 
his office, when suddenly the telephone rang with such a rat- 
tle that he jumped hastily from his seat, and, rushing to the 
instrument heard the voice of General Bancroft, in imperious 
tones, as if, as Major General, he were giving a command to 
some corporal in the ranks. The General said he desired to 
know "what your brother's interest in Groton was, anyway." 
He was so frightened, he said, all he could think of was that 
some of our ancestors lived and died in Westford, I am very 
glad that my brother's courage gave out, because if it hadn't, 
the General would have made my speech, and there would 
have been nothing left for me to say. I really feel, however, 
that I have a right to be here today. In the first place, I 
come as a trustee of the time honored Academy of Westford, 
and bring the very best greetings of the Board of Trustees. 
Secondly, my wife is a collateral descendant of that James 
Sullivan who was once an honored citizen of this town. 
And, thirdly, my grandmother, Harriet Fletcher Hamlin, 
was born in and married from this town. She was a daugh- 
ter of Pelatiah Fletcher, and her grandfather commanded a 
regiment in the Revolutionary War; they lived on what is 
now called the Timmins farm. I came here once to look at 



go 

that farm and see where she was born, but I remembered a story 
of four beautiful chairs which once belonged in the family, 
and when I arrived in the town I was sorely perplexed. I 
felt that I ought to go and see the ancestral home, but I 
wanted those chairs; and so, after thinking it over, I post- 
poned my visit to the ancestral home, and tried to secure the 
chairs, but I was unfortunate, as the owners would not part 
with them. I shall not give the name of the people who 
own those chairs, because I do not accept that defeat, but in- 
tend to come here sometime again and get them. 

My great-great-grandfather, Eleazer Hamlin, built a house 
in Harvard, only a few miles from here, which is still stand- 
ing. He had nineteen children, and for his second wife he 
married a lady who had a bountiful supply of her own, so 
you can imagine he must have been a man of some property, 
or must have been a heavy charge on the town. He moved to 
Pembroke, and I went down there a few years ago to see his 
old house there. I saw in the house an old fashioned fire 
back which I thought must have belonged to my great-great- 
grandfather, and I wanted to buy it. I made up my mind to 
pay ten, twenty, or even twenty-five dollars. For the sake 
of old associations I would gladly have paid that amount. I 
said, "I know that must have belonged to my great-great- 
grandfather." My wife looked it over, and then with that 
calm air of superiority which wives often visit upon their 
foolish husbands, she pointed to one corner of the fire back 
where I saw the words " Worcester, patented 1876." So I was 
saved making the purchase. Eleazer named four of his 
children for the continents, Europe, Asia, Africa, and 
America. I am a descendant of Asia. I wish I could say 
that I owe all my allegiance to this town. I do owe a good 
part of it. I love it. I used to spend the summer in West- 
ford, and belonged there to a celebrated baseball team, but 
skilful as we thought we were, we couldn't beat the Groton 
nine. We were mercilessly defeated once, and when we made 
up our minds to try again, Providence thoughtfully sent 
a storm which prevented the match, and that was my last ap- 
pearance on the base ball field. To the neighboring town of 



9i 

Westford also I owe allegiance, and as well to other towns 
on the Cape; they are all memorable, and they all mean 
practically the same thing in our public life. It reminds me 
of a story of an old lady who once made famous pies, mince 
and apple; one day some one asked her how she could tell 
them apart. " Why, by that mark," she said. The mince 
pies were marked " T. M." He found the same mark on the 
apple pies. "But how can you tell," he said, "they are 
both marked alike." She said, " Why, one stands for 'tis 
mince,' and one for 'tisn't mince' ." So we have all the same 
mark, the same heritage of American citizenship of which we 
are all proud whether we come from Groton or Ayer or 
Westford. This town of Groton has reason to be proud, 
if for no other reason, because it has given to the country 
that great statesman and patriot, George S. Boutwell; it 
would take its place in histor3* for that reason alone. 

The secret of the success of Massachusetts is that the 
towns have practiced the principle of home rule which our 
ancestors gave us, and which we will always cherish. There 
is a spirit about the people of Massachusetts, whether in the 
North, the South, the East or the West; there is a fine old 
Massachusetts spirit that takes its rise from the home rule 
doctrines. You cannot define what that Massachusett spirit 
is. You can feel it, you can watch its effects, and you know 
it is there. If I were to try to define it I should have to 
define it as a minister once tried to define religion: — "You 
get religion when you don't want it; when you get it you 
don't know it ; if you know it, you haven't got it; when you 
get it you can't lose it; if you lose it, you never had it." 
And that is the spirit of Massachusetts. There has been a 
marvellous development of this, our country, in the last 
twenty, thirty, or forty years. We are getting welded 
together more and more with a true national spirit. The 
best proof of this, to my mind, is that in the early days, after 
1776, or rather after 1789 when the Constitution of the United 
States was framed, when the words "United States" were 
used they were invariably followed by the plural verb, — the 
United States are not is. Whereas, in modern days, the 



9? 

ffiost recent illustration being the treaty of peace with Spain, 
the phrase was used, — "The United States zs." The United 
States is now a common unit, a great national government. 
It was welded together by the genius of interpretation of John 
Marshall, by the great Secretary of State Daniel Webster, 
and by many succeeding statesmen. Today we stand both 
a great united people. If there is one idea more than another 
that I can, briag hire, it is that when the United States faces 
a foreign power it shall be as one undivided nation. Let no 
political dissension come into play to defeat or defend a treaty 
when the United States speaks to another nation. If there 
are differences in the Senate, let us forget our partisanship 
when we face another power, in the common love of our 
grand united country. 

Now, my friends, I wish I had time to say more to you. 
I have much more to say, but time is precious to me, for it is 
hay day, and I have got to go home to my farm at Matta- 
poisett and see what has been done today. My genial friend, 
the Lieutenant-Governor, has the advantage of me, — he has 
been making hay all day. We can all make hay when the 
sun shines. He can make it just as well when it rains; he 
can make hay in the night; he can make it in the winter as 
well as in summer. And I want to say, as one who has not 
exactly been in accord with him politically, that there is no 
one in our state who envies him his high reputation, well 
earned and deserved. 

I take a great interest in my farm. My vocation is that of 
law, and I took up farming as an avocation, hoping that 
I might some day follow farming as a vocation and law as an 
avocation. I have accumulated a vast mass of experience, 
and not much more, but I have invented a device by which I 
make that farm pay expenses. I charge off the deficit as 
rent of the summer dwelling house in which I live, and I am 
proud to say my farm pays its expenses. I began by raising 
hens and chickens, and as the first cost was expensive, my 
wife and I wrote to each of our friends to send us a hen, and 
said we would name the hen for the donor, male or female. 
That brought a number of hens, but not as many as we 



93 

wanted; so I wrote again to the delinquents, and said that ii 
they didn't send a hen I would name a pig for them. I have 
carried on that farm for several years, and any man that will 
come to me and say he is a descendant of Groton can have 
its products at actual cost, — about one dollar apiece for eggs, 
and somewhat more a quart for milk. 

The ramblings in which I have indulged remind me of an 
old railroad in Massachusetts called the Boston, Barre and 
Gardner, which didn't start from Boston, didn't go through 
Barre, and only barely reached Gardner. 

I do not remember where or how I began, or whither my 
remarks have tended, but the anxious look on the presiding 
officer's face impresses upon me the fact that I have reached 
my destination, so thanking you for your courteous invitation 
I will take my seat. 



HON. ANDROS B. JONES. 

At the time of Deaue Winthrop's petition, Lancaster was 
Nash-a-way; Nashua was Merimake, and a part of Nashua 
was a part of Groton. Since then boundaries, as well as 
names, have been changed, and today we are welcoming the 
accomplished mayor of a beautiful city in another state, with 
the assurance that, had his territory of Nashua remained 
with us, he might now be Chairman of the Board of Select- 
men of Groton. And we greet him and his people with the 
cordiality of kindred, and wish him to know that we are 
proud of our relatives from New Hampshire. I have much 
satisfaction in introducing the Mayor of Nashua, the 

HONORABLE ANDROS B. JONES. 

Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : 

It is needless for me to mention the great pleasure which I 
take in coming to this gathering from Nashua, to pay for her 
a tribute of honor and a debt of gratitude to the old mother 
who fostered and nourished her many years ago. 

Nashua together with the other sister towns of the same 



94 

common parentage gather here today to join in commemora- 
tion of the birth of Groton. For, the citizens of Nashua, 
whom I have the privilege and the honor of representing on 
this occasion, date the real beginning of their town history 
back over two centuries and a half ago, when Jonathan 
Danforth braved the dangers of wilderness to survey the 
original Groton plantation. 

At that time the line which now marks the main thorough- 
fare of your town was but a faintly traced path through the 
forest. It had known no human step, save the moccasined 
foot of the Indian. 

The ancient and primitive wood had never heard the 
sound of the white man's axe. But soon all this was 
changed. Where once was but a scarcely perceptible tract 
through the forest we now see a well trodden path and a 
much wider clearing. Wreaths of smoke curling up from 
the rude log cabins on either side gave evidence of that Anglo- 
Saxon grit and perseverance which converted the wilds of 
New England into a fertile and habitable land. 

The red men have since become aware that the street is no 
longer free to them, save by permission of the settlers. The 
wild forest has shrunk back and the street has lost the odor 
of the pine and the hemlock. And so from this humble be- 
ginning grew the town whose birth we celebrate today. 

But soon that restless energy which is so characteristic of 
the Anglo-Saxon pushed forth into the unknown forest in 
search of new homes. The more adventurous spirits came to 
a spot which seemed graced by God. 

At the junction of two rivers, a place which had long 
been the favorite fishing ground of the Indian, they cleared 
away the forest and founded a little settlement. From this 
settlement grew the large and prosperous city of Nashua. 

Because of its favorable location, its splendid water power 
and its unsurpassed railroad facilities, Nashua is today the 
most vigorous child of old Groton. 

Although these great natural resources have contributed 
largely to her growth and prosperity, she owes much to those 



95 

sturdy pioneers who first cleared away the forest and opened 
up the farms of old Middlesex. 

And it is in recognition of that debt that I speak here today 
in behalf of the citizens of Nashua. We all rejoice with you 
on this memorable occasion. We are glad of having this 
opportunity to express our appreciation of the services which 
those men rendered, who here on this spot felled the first 
trees and made possible by their untiring efforts the marked 
success which we as a city have attained. 

We have erected a monument worthy of the fathers who 
have gone before. The busy hum of the factories, the cotton 
mills, and the foundries of Nashua, bears an unceasing 
tribute to the memory of the founders of Groton. I thank 
you. 



HON. GEORGE A. SANDERSON. 

The duties pertaining to the office of President of the 
Board of Trustees of the Lawrence Academy, and the duties 
pertaining to the office of District Attorney for the Northern 
District, which comprises Middlesex County, have been per- 
formed of late years in a way that shows clearly that the 
incumbent of each of these offices is well fitted to perform the 
duties pertaining to the highest elective law office in the 
Commonwealth. In all of these offices the people of Groton 
feel no inconsiderable interest, and they are indeed fortunate 
to be privileged today to listen to a gentleman, who, either 
from association or from anticipation, is able to talk about 
all of them, but he is also at liberty to refrain from talking 
about any of them if he chooses. Upon any subject that he 
may wish to select, we shall be glad to hear 

HONORABLE GEORGE A. SANDERSON. 

Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: A town that has 
two hundred and fifty years of history has an inheritance of 
all that is best in life upon this continent, and the town of 
Groton is peculiarly fortunate in its history and its inheri- 



9 <5 

tance. One of the features of that history, and one well 
worth mentioning at a great celebration like this, is the 
fostering care which this town has given to educational 
institutions. Among them, the ancient academy on the hill, 
upon whose athletic field we have today met. It was founded 
more thati one hundred and ten years ago, by forty-seven 
subscribers, at a time when every dollar earned and given 
meant a sacrifice of time and effort. These forty-seven men, 
devoted to education, devoted to the higher and the best 
things, subscribed sums varying from five to fifteen pounds 
each for the erection of the first building, as they said in that 
agreement, "to diffuse useful knowledge, and render the 
means of instruction and information more general and less 
expensive." The last subscriber on that list was the muni- 
cipality, the town of Groton itself, which subscribed two 
hundred pounds to the erection of that building, and it is 
probable that the institution could not then have been founded 
but for the subscription of the town. So we have in these 
forty-seven enthusiastic individuals, and throughout the 
whole town, a devotion to the idea of education so strong that 
they were willing to make sacrifices for it. Since that time, 
that institution, through long periods of its life, has furnished 
education to many of the sons and daughters of Groton. It 
has brought to this village thousands of boys and girls to be 
educated, who have carried the fair fame of Groton to other 
parts of this state, and to other states in our nation. It has 
stood there as a silent influence for education to all those 
who have not had the privilege of entering its walls. It is 
said that a church building, by its very existence in a com- 
munity, is constantly preaching a sermon to all who look 
upon it, by reason of the significance of things for which it 
stands. In a similar way, this institution on the hill, 
because of the principles for which it has stood, because of 
the spirit of the boys and girls in it, and the teachers there, 
has enabled this town to be a town in which its citizens have 
high ideals, are interested in the higher things, and are 
devoted to the things that are not wholly material. It has 
not only given much to this community, but it has received 



97 

much from it. The beautiful scenes of these hills and valleys 
have been mixed with the joys and duties of student life. 
The churches of this town have furnished much of the 
religious influence to those who have attended that institu- 
tion, and the character of the people of this town has been 
impressed upon the youth who have attended that school. 
Many a student has formed his ideal of life from the people 
whom he has come to know when at school here. Lawrence 
Academy and the town of Groton are in their history indis- 
solubly linked together. Each is a debtor to the other. As 
we look down the future, can we not ask the town of Groton 
for that friendly interest which was guaranteed in that 
original gift of two hundred pounds? Can we not promise 
for the old academy an adherence to the ideals that it has 
stood for, and that it shall coutimte to stand for the higher 
things of life. 

" I hold it true that thoughts are things 
Endowed with being, breath and wings; 
And that we send them forth 
To fill the world with goodness or ill." 



HON. CHARLES W. STONE. 

In the history of the Federal Union a large part has been 
taken by the great state of Pennsylvania. Within her borders 
have been events of the very highest concern to our nation — 
events both in council and on the field. Her natural 
resources have yielded wealth which we characterize as 
marvelous, and among her men have been, and are, leaders 
in momentous affairs. 

Among those whom her people have delighted to honor — 
a former Lieutenant-Governor and Congressman — is a Groton 
boy whom I shall now ask to address you — the 

HONORABLE CHARLES W. STONE. 

Mr. President, Ladies and Ge7itlemen : I would be a rash 
man indeed if, at this hour of the day, and in this temperature. 



9 s 

and after the wealth of eloquence, of educational history, of 
practical agricultural experience, of political science, which 
we have been favored with today, I should undertake to 
detain this audience. Ordinarily, I would like to do that for 
a little time. Ordinarily, I would be glad to say a few 
words here in the place where I was born; but you are pro- 
tected from any such possible danger, for I am advised that 
the train which will take me toward the setting sun will 
soon be due, and railroad trains, like time and tide, wait for 
no man. Consequently, Mr. Chairman, the speech which I 
would like to have made will have to be postponed until the 
next centennial. 

Anywhere, except in Groton, and at any other time except 
today, the eloquent, feeling, enthusiastic eulogy upon the 
state of Massachusetts from the lips of her Lieutenant- 
Governor would have perhaps, provoked from me some 
words in relation to the grand, imperial old Commonwealth 
of Pennsylvania with its unrivalled resources and its glorious 
history. But today, Mr. Chairman, I stand here as a loyal 
Yankee. Today, I claim allegiance to the old state of 
Massachusetts. I claim the right to partake with you in the 
pride which we all feel in this grand old town of Groton. 
Tracing my lineage back by direct descent to three of the 
original land-holders of Groton, Simon Stone, Thomas 
Williams and William Green, I feel that I am entitled to 
share with you in the pride which we feel in this grand 
town, in its historical past, and its attractive present. 

Yesterday I strolled to the top of Gibbet Hill, which I used 
to know as a boy, and I looked out upon the beautiful 
panorama spread before us, the distant hills and mountains, 
and the intervening fields, and it was a beautiful sight. I 
recognized that Groton was "beautiful for situation," and it 
seemed to me that it was a good place to be born in. I strayed 
later into the cemetery, peaceful, delightful, quiet; nothing 
to interfere with the peace and quiet of that solemn place, 
and it semeed to me that Groton was a good place to die and 
be buried in. I came today into this assemblage, with those 



99 

bright faces and well laden boards, and wandered about your 
streets with their houses radiant with beauty, and it seemed 
to me that Groton was a good place to live in. And yet, no 
man who has tasted the enticing fascination of western life, 
who has mingled with the men who make things move, who 
has listened to the "call of the wild" that comes from the West 
with its vast prairies and gigantic forests, will ever be con- 
tent to return, even to the peaceful monotony of a New 
England town. 

I noticed, in coming in on the train yesterday, what was a 
surprise to me, because in 1113- boyhood days there was nothing 
noticeable in the language of this community, except possibly 
a little of what General Scott used to call "the rich old Irish 
brogue," but on the train yesterday, strident, drowning and 
overwhelming the conversation of the native New Englander 
was a foreign language, unknown to me, unintelligible to 
me, and I wondered if I would find the same state of affairs 
in Groton. I wondered if I should find the genuine old New 
England element, or that composite element that comes from 
foreign immigration. But while today I miss many a figure 
which I would expect to see on this occasion, and especially 
one that had become prominently prominent in the state and 
nation and left a deep and lasting impress on his country's 
history, was absent, and while many another has gone on to 
that bourne from which no traveller returns, yet others have 
grown up and come in, and the general character of the town 
remains unchanged. You have the same churches and the 
same deep religious spirit, the same schools, the same town 
meeting, and the same educating influence of the town 
meeting, and the exemplification of pure democracy shown 
in the conduct of your local affairs by direct vote of each 
individual citizen. And the town remains the same, and it 
is a great and glorious old community. I listen to the 
eulogies concerniug New England, and I believe its influence 
is extending beyond the nation, and I would give you as a 
concluding sentiment, — Here's to the New England of the 
past, the home, the birth-place of American liberty and free 
government; here's to the United States of the present, 



IOO 

carrying the enlightening, the elevating, the refining influence 
of New England civilization to the uttermost parts of the 
earth. 



HON. GEORGE J. BURNS. 

Unmindful of the precept that children should be seen but 
not heard, and oblivious to the somewhat unfilial utterances 
which were heard here thirty-four years ago, and which were 
prompted only by eagerness for a much desired separation, 
and by impatience for independent existence, and not by any 
lack of respect or of affection for a venerable parent, I was to 
have asked you to listen to a representative of that frisky, 
that vivacious, that irrepressible child of old age — for so it 
seamed to me in my boyhood — the modern — or model — town 
of Ayer. Now that she has dropped the peevishness of 
childhood, and has assumed the decorous serenity of a digni- 
fied sister, and is avowedly not ashamed of her elder 
relative — I am getting the kinship in this consanguinous 
metaphor a bit mixed — it would be fitting that her spokes- 
man should be one who, like herself, possesses all the 
enthusiasm of youth together with many other estimable 
qualities which come with the ripeness of mature age. I 
should, therefore, have invited to speak in behalf of our 
good neighbor now in all the bloom of full grown womanhood, 
not all of whose beauties, however, can be seen from her 
railroad station, one whose agreeable voice, on more than 
one occasion has not failed to please a Groton audience, one 
who fills a large place in this commuity, and one who, when 
Congressman Tirrell is sent to the Senate or made Ambas- 
sador to the Court of St. James, for aught I know, may 
represent this district in the halls of Congress — our worthy 
friend, the Honorable George J. Burns. But I do not see 
him here at this moment. 



-o- 



The addresses then are finished and the Chair, therefore, 
declares this gathering adjourned to the 300th anniversary 
to which time the 200th anniversary gathering was also 
adjourned. 



LB JL '06 



^•o 



